Prospecting rewards correct mission scanning, not extraction, so a nimble scanner is often better than a dedicated mining ship.
The decisive state is the yellow per-asteroid marker plus objective counter, not a general belt ping.
Nyx has exactly two belts: the Glaciem Ring (designation Nyx belt alpha, dense, roughly 8 AU out, People's Alliance space) and the Keeger Ring (designation Nyx belt beta, outermost, lower density, unclaimed).
Neither belt is armistice, and the Glaciem Ring contains both Delamar/Levski and Shattered Blade-held QV Extraction stations.
Exact resource occurrence and radar signature vary with the patch, so route from the live briefing rather than a remembered belt-to-ore mapping.
Nyx has only seven serviced locations in total - Levski, two Gateways and four People's Service Stations - so fuel and consumable planning matters more here than in Stanton.
Stack only contracts that share a route and verify each scan before leaving a cluster.
Where you are going
mobiGlas Contract Manager
Reads requested material, belt hint and completion count.
Glaciem Ring
The primary prospecting search region; also contains Delamar, the Moraine settlements and the QV Extraction stations.
Keeger Ring
Alternate prospecting search region with a lower asteroid density than the Glaciem Ring.
Levski
The only ship dealer in Nyx (Teach's Ship Shop) plus Teach's Rentals, a Refinement Center, Refinery Ore Sales, Cargo Services, a clinic and armistice.
Stanton Gateway (Nyx) and Pyro Gateway (Nyx)
Armistice stations with clinic, Refinement Center, Platinum Bay, Cargo Services, Armor, Live Fire Weapons and both Traveler and Vantage rental desks.
People's Service Stations Alpha, Delta, Theta, Lambda
Clinic, Pharmacy, Weapons and Armor, Tools & Supplies, Landing Services (fuel) and an Ore Sales terminal.
Marked asteroid cluster
Generates individual yellow objective asteroids when ready.
What you need and why
Provides the scan mode, ping and quantum travel needed for every prospecting stage.
No substitute listedAllows belt changes and a safe return after unsuccessful searches.
No substitute listedHelps form a candidate match without replacing the mission counter.
Alternative: Use repeated controlled scans and verify through objective updates.None of the four People's Service Stations sell food; only Levski and the two Gateways do.
Alternative: Plan the loop to end at Levski before your survival bars matter.Useful only when pairing prospecting with a mining objective. A MISC Prospector rents for about 73,237 aUEC, but only at Stanton Gateway (Nyx) or Pyro Gateway (Nyx) - Levski does not rent one.
Alternative: Use any quick scanner for pure contracts.The dedicated scanning hull; sold at Teach's Ship Shop in Levski for about 5,433,120 aUEC if you intend to run Nyx scanning work seriously.
Alternative: Rent a Drake Cutter for about 9,525 aUEC at Teach's Rentals and scan from that.Can separate route navigation from close cluster inspection.
Alternative: Scan methodically solo with a narrowed angle.What to look for
Read the exact contract request and not just the title before choosing a belt. Nyx-era raw ores you may see include Lindinium (Ore), Savrilium (Ore), Torite (Ore), Ouratite (Raw), Riccite (Ore) and Stileron (Raw) alongside the common Aluminum, Iron, Copper and Quartz.
Use the active mission route for the Glaciem Ring or the Keeger Ring instead of assuming a universal spawn region.
Narrow the scan cone until one practical group can be approached safely.
Wait for these individual markers before focus-scanning.
This is the only reliable proof that a scan counted.
When it goes wrong
Narrow scan angle, reposition and use controlled pings until one cluster can be isolated.
Return to scan mode, wait for yellow individual markers, then scan only marked rocks and verify the counter after each one.
Follow the live contract marker and treat past distributions as patch-sensitive rather than forcing a stale route.
Hold near the candidate cluster, avoid premature scans and try a fresher session if the state repeatedly fails to update.
Finish the compatible group first or drop the inefficient route before spending fuel crossing between belts.
Search the official designations: Glaciem Ring (Nyx belt alpha) and Keeger Ring (Nyx belt beta). Community shorthand for both names is frequently misspelled.
The People's Service Stations have a Pharmacy and Tools & Supplies but no food terminal. Restock at Levski or one of the two Gateway stations before heading into a belt.
Only Levski and the two jump Gateways are armistice in Nyx. The four People's Service Stations and both belts are not.
You are probably using Left Alt + Mouse Wheel, which is the mining laser power binding. In scan mode use the mouse wheel alone, and stay out of mining mode (M) entirely on a pure prospecting contract.
Rewards and progression
↳ Credits and Battaglia reputation according to the current prospecting contract tier.
↳ A reusable understanding of which live scan route and marker timing work on the current patch.
↳ Optional ore income if you mine what you find - though at Levski Refinery Ore Sales, Aluminum (Ore) and Iron (Ore) fetch only around 1,130 and 1,000 aUEC/SCU, so the contract is usually the payout that matters.
Departure checklist
□Open each full prospecting briefing.
□Stack only shared-route jobs.
□Restock food and water at Levski or a Gateway first.
□Route to the marked belt using its real designation.
□Enter scan mode (V) and narrow the cone with the mouse wheel.
□Stay out of mining mode.
□Approach an isolated cluster safely.
□Wait for yellow asteroid markers.
□Focus-scan and verify every counter update.
□Return or reuse only a confirmed route.
- 01
Accept only compatible prospecting work
In mobiGlas Contract Manager, open each Nyx prospecting briefing and note the requested resource, belt hint and scan count. Stack jobs only where the route and requested materials overlap; separate contracts with incompatible destinations create needless quantum travel.
- 02
Route to the correct belt
Nyx has exactly two asteroid belts and both have official designations worth knowing. The Glaciem Ring is Nyx belt alpha: a dense field circling the star at roughly 8 AU, People's Alliance space, and the belt that contains Delamar (and therefore Levski), the scattered Moraine settlements and the Shattered Blade-held QV Extraction stations. The Keeger Ring is Nyx belt beta, the outermost belt, unclaimed and noticeably less dense. Use the contract marker and star map rather than a remembered route, and treat any "resource X always spawns in belt Y" claim as provisional - let the active briefing decide the destination.
⚠ Neither belt is an armistice zone, and the Glaciem Ring in particular hosts Shattered Blade strongholds. Plan a route out before you plan a route in. - 03
Build a clean scan picture
Enter ship scan mode with V, then hold and release V for an active radar ping. In scan mode the mouse wheel widens or narrows the scan cone; use the narrowest practical cone when overlapping signatures make a cluster unreadable. Do not confuse this with Left Alt + Mouse Wheel, which is mining laser power and only does anything once you are in mining mode - and mining mode (M) is precisely the state that will eat your scan without advancing the contract. Approach cautiously; the goal is to isolate a likely contract cluster, not harvest it.
- 04
Identify and approach a candidate
Compare the visible cluster result with the resource requested by the contract, then approach to a controlled close range. Stop at a safe distance from the group and remain in scan mode while the mission prepares individual asteroid markers.
- 05
Wait for the yellow objective state
Hold position until yellow markers appear on specific asteroids. If the server is slow, resist the urge to focus-scan early; the marker state is the useful signal that the mission can count the action.
⚠ Entering mining mode or scanning early can consume the scan without advancing the objective. - 06
Focus-scan and verify each count
Focus-scan the marked asteroid while staying in scan mode, then watch the contract counter and HUD update before moving to the next rock. Recheck the mission after every scan rather than assuming a visually similar asteroid qualified.
- 07
Know where you can actually land, sell and re-kit
Nyx is thin on infrastructure and that shapes every run. Levski on Delamar is the only place in the system that sells ships (Teach's Ship Shop - an Anvil Terrapin, the dedicated scanning hull, runs about 5,433,120 aUEC there) and it also has Teach's Rentals, a Refinement Center, a Cargo Center, a freight elevator, a clinic and armistice. The two jump points - Stanton Gateway (Nyx) and Pyro Gateway (Nyx) - are armistice, carry clinics, refineries, Platinum Bay, Cargo Services and both Traveler and Vantage rental desks, and are the only Nyx locations renting a MISC Prospector at about 73,237 aUEC. The four People's Service Stations (Alpha, Delta, Theta and Lambda) each have a clinic, Pharmacy, Weapons and Armor, Tools & Supplies, Landing Services and an Ore Sales terminal, but no food, no ship rental or purchase, and no armistice.
- 08
Price the ore before you decide it was worth it
If your prospecting run turns into an actual mining run, the sale side is small. Refinery Ore Sales at Levski currently buys Ouratite (Raw) at about 18,300 aUEC/SCU, Bexalite (Raw) at about 5,220, Taranite (Raw) at about 4,810, Agricium (Ore) at about 3,000, Torite (Ore) at about 2,200, Gold (Ore) at about 1,939, Corundum (Raw) at about 1,210, Aluminum (Ore) at about 1,130, Iron (Ore) at about 1,000 and Ice (Raw) at about 636. The People's Service Stations pay less and take less: PSS Delta buys Corundum, Aluminum and Iron ore, PSS Theta buys Ice. A hold of aluminum and iron is a rounding error next to the contract payout, which is why pure prospecting in a fast scanner usually beats hauling rock back.
- 09
Reuse a confirmed route
Once a route works, combine it with compatible Battaglia travel or leave a recoverable ship near the belt only if the current server and game rules make that safe. Do not treat a previous cluster as permanent; refresh the scan process on later runs.
Field notes
↳ A mining ship is not required for pure prospecting contracts.
↳ Use the narrowest practical scan angle to isolate signatures.
↳ Do not trust a rock until the objective counter changes.
↳ Treat exact signatures and belt distributions as patch-specific.
↳ The belts are the Glaciem Ring (Nyx belt alpha) and the Keeger Ring (Nyx belt beta) - community shorthand mangles both names, and using the real ones makes the star map search work first time.
↳ Cheap Nyx transport: a Greycat ROC rents for about 2,598 aUEC and a Drake Cutter for about 9,525 at Teach's Rentals in Levski.
↳ Carry food and water from Levski or a Gateway - the People's Service Stations sell everything except food.
↳ The Glaciem Ring also holds the QV Extraction stations used by the Tactical Strike Group operation; if a large squadron is running that content in the same shard, expect traffic and a Vanduul response afterwards.
Watch the route
Video mechanics can age between patches. Use the written route above as the current checklist.
Research sources
Route text is independently summarized and cross-checked against these references.
MrKraken - Nyx Prospecting Contract Guide (4.9) ↗RSI Galactapedia - Nyx System ↗RSI Galactapedia - Keeger Ring (Nyx Belt Beta) ↗UEX Corp - Nyx terminals and ore prices ↗
