Civillian harvesters

[Rich.h (OP)]

I have a civilian company which has just launched two fuel harvesters, is it possible to purchase the fuel from these? I already have the box checked at civilian colonies to buy their minerals but cannot see anything for buying from ships?

[Prince of Space]

You should be able to give your ships an order to refuel from the civilian harvesters just as you would give them an order to refuel from your own tankers. Go to the Task Group (F12) window and make sure the Task Groups box is checked. The harvesters will show up as locations on the lefthand list, below the planets. When they refuel from the harvester the civilians will bill you. As far as I know there is no way to automate the fuel purchase other than having one of your ships cycling its moves between refueling at the harvester and dumping the fuel at a colony.

EDIT: spelling

[MarcAFK]

My last game I designed fighter sized tankers with long maintenance life which I put on constant cycle orders to the civilian harvesters, in fact half a dozen of them was enough to keep my first 3 small harvesters empty until my shipyards were big enough for more massive ships.