Factorio Forums

Setup:
Make a space platform with some schedule traveling between planets. On one stop, have a request that is unable to be filled all at once, either by constantly depleting the requested item, or by having the supply at the planet really slow. In either case, the goal is to have a constant stream of rockets from the planet.

Issue:
When the space platform decides it's time to leave, it waits for the sent rockets to land and only then leaves. However, for some reason it doesn't stop requesting its requests, so the constant stream of rockets traps it forever in orbit where it's at.

Expected behavior:
Once a space platform decides to leave, it stops requesting new deliveries from the planet below, so it can actually leave.

For illustrative purposes, I've attached a save where I'm unable to progress due to this exact issue. I have a space platform called "sci" that requests science packs from planets and it consumes them in the on-board labs. This means that whenever it stops at a planet, it ends up stuck due to an endless trickle of cargo as the requested science packs get consumed and replenished.

ran into this as well

Here's an old discussion about the same thing. It was marked resolved but was never fully resolved.
viewtopic.php?p=645225

Genhis wrote: Tue Nov 19, 2024 8:27 pm [...] Several bugs related to rocket launches were fixed, although rocket requests are still given priority over schedule.

aha, so this is what's causing it, a hidden "AND no rockets currently underway" on the schedule
if you try manually sending the platform to another planet it will leave properly

wonder what other problem required doing it like that

If there isn't one already, someone should make a Suggestion thread asking that the "inbound rocket" condition/count be made visible in the schedule panel. It would clear up a lot of the confusion.

robot256 wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 11:03 pm If there isn't one already, someone should make a Suggestion thread asking that the "inbound rocket" condition/count be made visible in the schedule panel. It would clear up a lot of the confusion.

Platform requested item inflight indicator

eugenekay wrote: Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:20 pm 08-31-2025, 10-18-53.png
Feature Exists, in at least three different places:

• Platform Hub shows "Waiting for Rocket to Arrive"
• Yellow Status indicator, displays en-route requests when Hovered
• Active Request is highlighted in Yellow
• When the Cargo Pod reaches the "orbital" part of the Procession animation a Hatch will open on the Platform to receive it

Good Luck!

How many places can this information be shown before the entire panel is just a giant flashing “INCOMING CARGO POD” banner? There will still be users who don’t know how to read.

eugenekay wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 11:15 pm
How many places can this information be shown before the entire panel is just a giant flashing “INCOMING CARGO POD” banner? There will still be users who don’t know how to read.

Point taken, but the one place it is not found is in the schedule window where all the other conditions are either black or green.