>>526919851
On-site processing of the ores is generally advisable, particularly for iridite which has an absurdly low stack size so it pretty much needs to be processed first due to the cost of shipping the raw ore by rocket. A motherfucking train wagon can only carry like 200 of the fucking stuff and that's not enough for a plate.

You'll want to keep individual outposts small because biters exist and therefore you'll need to account for defending against them in your logistics for most planets. Thankfully interplanetary logistics are strong in Spex and that can be automated using circuit logic for supply rockets. Your biggest concern is actually supplying the fuel and rocket parts needed for exporting the products themselves, thankfully rockets are partially recyclable and become more so over time. To the point that rocket parts sometimes end up becoming a waste product that have to be dealt with on their own. But don't be afraid to import a product from another planet in order to simplify the processing of an ore on-site rather than trying to source the materials locally. Import/Export is kind of the entire point of Spex, unlike Spage where it was the single most discouraged practice.

Especially once you get to the space elevator you'll have the ground of nauvis making most sundries while nauvis orbit receives product from your empire and turns it into all your science.