Moon Sweepers Money: Dust, Sand & Moon Stone
Understand sale values, delivery payment and whether processing is worth the delay.
Quick answer
Raw dust is worth $1/kg, Moon Sand $3/kg and Moon Stone $7/kg before payout bonuses in the community reference tables. Belts pay at the station intake on arrival. A more valuable product helps only when the factory can keep delivering it.
On this page
What sells for what?
| Material | Base value | Example sale |
|---|---|---|
| Dust | $1/kg | 100 kg → $100 |
| Moon Sand | $3/kg | 100 kg → $300 |
| Moon Stone | $7/kg | 100 kg → $700 |
These examples use equal final mass and no payout upgrades. They are not a promise of equal production time. Moon Stone needs both dust and sand; do not count the sand input as free.
Collection is not payment
A full tool means you collected dust, not that you sold it. A Packager turns that load into transportable capsules. The sale happens when the product reaches a valid selling point. Official 1.0.3 notes specifically confirm belt deliveries pay on arrival at the deposit intake, at the amount its screen shows. If income stops, follow the material before buying another cleaner.
Use exploration bonuses deliberately
The community income reference also reports $10 for a completed region before Region Bounty upgrades, $100 for untangling a flag and $250 for surveying a lunar site. These are situational rewards, not an infinite rate. Nearby discoveries can fund early equipment; an hour-long detour has a different opportunity cost.
Do not add every bonus to a dust-per-minute estimate. Your actual wallet gain over a timed session is the best way to compare manual sweeping, exploration and automation.
Dust sale calculator
Formula: final product mass × base sale value × your multiplier. Gross sale only; excludes machine costs, time, unsold inventory and exploration rewards.
When does processing pay back?
A Pressure Chamber increases the value of dust converted to sand. A Stone Press adds a second input stream and more power demand. Measure your net sales for a few minutes before and after expanding. If a machine waits for input or power, its headline conversion value is not your earning rate.
Sources & version notes
Checked 29 October 2026. Official patch behavior is separated from community-reported menu values. This guide is source-based; it does not claim an in-game test by this site.
Launch, container and region calculator
The crew payout multiplier is 1 + 0.06 per Market Contracts level, plus 0.10 for Lunar Exchange. Region Bounty adds $15 per level only to a region credited to the player who cleared it; team-credited regions retain $10. Launch income can include fractions of a cent, so this tool shows six decimals.
The launch, full-container and region results are separate scenarios: do not add the container scenario to a launch that already includes that material. Gross income excludes construction, upgrades and travel costs.