The shuttle, its stations and the space map
The shuttle is your ship and the second half of Time Heroes. It arrives at level 10, at the same moment coal starts dropping, and it opens a production layer that has nothing to do with hatching: raw ore goes in one end and ship modules come out the other.
If mining and hatching are the game's income, the shuttle is what you spend that income becoming. Ship upgrades are also one of the largest single experience payouts in the game at 250 per upgrade, the same as a daily task.
The stations and when they open
Stations unlock across a wide level band rather than arriving together, so the shuttle keeps giving you a new room to fill for dozens of levels.
| Level | Station | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Shuttle | The ship itself, and coal starts dropping |
| 11 | Smelter | First refining step, and copper ore begins |
| 15 | Fabricator | Second step in the production chain |
| 19 | Assembler | Third step, producing finished components |
| 20 | Space Map | Travel between destinations |
| 22 | Generator Bay | Passive production while you are elsewhere |
| 25 | ModBay | Ship modules, plus shuttle combat opens |
| 33 | Brew | Consumable crafting |
The ore chain in order
The chain is deliberately linear, and each station consumes what the one before it made. Coal and copper enter the Smelter, the Smelter's output feeds the Fabricator, the Fabricator feeds the Assembler, and the Assembler's components are what the ModBay turns into modules. Ship levels 3 and up are gated on that chain, so you cannot buy your way past a station you have not built.
This is why ore feels useless for the first ten levels and then suddenly becomes the bottleneck. Nothing in the hatching loop consumes ore at all.
Ship upgrades
Upgrading the ship raises its chassis tier, which expands storage, slot bays and what the ship can carry into travel. Each upgrade is worth 250 experience, and the upgrade screen shows every affected stat including the ones that did not move, so you can see exactly what a tier is buying before you commit.
Ship upgrades and world unlocks are separate progressions. Owning a better shuttle does not open a world for you. You still have to beat that world's boss for the navigation data.
The space map
The space map opens at level 20 and turns the shuttle into something you actually pilot. Destinations sit at different distances, from around 180 units for the nearest to roughly 880 units at the far end, and travel time scales with that distance. Combat in space opens at level 25 alongside the ModBay, which is not a coincidence: modules are what make a ship survivable out there.
The quantity slider is a purchase
Every item station shares one crafting console, and by default a tap produces exactly one item. The batch slider and the craft all lever are unlocked by the mass craft research at level 33, which is the same level the Brew station opens. Before that research, quantity is a manual grind by design.
When does the shuttle unlock in Time Heroes?
The shuttle unlocks at player level 10 in Time Heroes, at the same time coal begins dropping. Its production stations then open gradually from level 11 up to level 33.
What are ores used for in Time Heroes?
Ores in Time Heroes feed the shuttle's industrial chain, running from the Smelter through the Fabricator and Assembler to the ModBay. They are not used for hatching or world unlocks.
Does a better shuttle unlock new worlds in Time Heroes?
No. In Time Heroes a new world needs its level, its coin cost, its essence or Paradox requirement, and the navigation data you get by beating that world's boss. The ship alone is not enough.