In XCOM, monitoring of alien activity above a particular country is done via a satellite. The benefits of satellites are:
- Monthly fee from each country with a satellite. This fee constitutes the project's main source of income.
- Instant reduction in country's panic level when a satellite is deployed above it.
- Monthly bonus of scientists and / or engineers, depending on the countries.
- Special bonus for each continent with full satellite coverage. ( NOTE: the bonus for the continent the player builds their base on is automatically earned.)
- Countries with active satellites cannot participate in abduction events, which are game's main panic-increasing mechanic. This means that if all countries (or all countries but one to three — see ↓Stalling with satellites) have a satellite, the player can effectively stall panic nearly indefinitely, allowing time to research different subjects and build items.
Satellites should be given priority over everything else in the game because they are the only recurrent source of money and because they can help countries whose panic levels are alarmingly high.
Building satellites and uplinks
- Remember about the adjacency bonus for both uplinks and nexuses. Adjacency is both vertical and horizontal, so you can, for example, have a 2x2 arrangement with three uplinks and one nexus.
- You don't have to wait for a satellite to be finished. You can order more at any time. You can have as many orders in the engineering queue as you want.
- You should start building satellites during the first 9 days of each month, as the production takes 20 days. This will allow to deploy satellites before a monthly meeting with The Council, increasing your income for that month.
- It is beneficial to delay satellite deployment until right before the monthly debrief with the Council. This grants the player a few advantages, such as:
- You can monitor panic levels in countries, and deploy satellites in those whose panic levels reach 5 at the end of the month, preventing them from withdrawing support for the project.
- Among random requests from countries, such as requests for alien corpses or equipment, it's possible to get a request to launch a satellite above a specific country for a hefty fee.
- Panic reduction and increase in monthly income take place immediately when a satellite is launched, despite satellites taking a few days to become operational.
- If you have the "Air and Space" bonus from North America either by selecting the continent for your base or providing satellite coverage for Mexico, Canada and the United States; then all satellites and the interceptor craft that should be deployed along side them cost %50 percent less than normal to construct and maintain.
Stalling with satellites
The player can manage satellites in a number of ways to maximize their benefit.
- The Stealth Satellites Foundry project improves the overall effectiveness of satellite stalling, although it's unnecessary when the player is able to intercept every UFO.
- 16 out of 16 satellites can be deployed to effectively erase abduction events.
- Even if some countries have withdrawn from the Council, abduction events can be effectively erased from the game as long as every remaining country has a satellite.
- Once satellites are maxed out, one satellite should always be kept in reserve in the case of an established satellite's destruction.
- Satellites can be manupulated in such a way that all abduction events appear on a single continent (e.g., Europe — U.K, France, Germany, and/or Russia). When completing the mission, panic level is reduced in the chosen country of engagement, while the panic increase on other continents is negated by the general continental panic reduction. This is especially useful in the three-country continent of Africa. This form of satellite stalling has two main functions aside from panic management:
- a) It allows the player to gain access to on-the-ground materials (such as Alloys and Elerium) through stalling and shooting down enemy flightcraft.
- b) It allows the player to farm abduction-event rewards (such as engineers and scientists).
North America
Full coverage bonus: "Air and Space" — All aircraft and aircraft weapons cost 50% less to purchase, build and maintain.
Monthly income from each country for deploying a satellite over it:
- United States: §180
- Canada: §100
- Mexico: §50
North America total: §330 for 3 countries.
North America satellite bonus:
- 1 satellite: +1 scientist per month
- 2 satellite: +1 scientist per month, +1 engineer per month
- 3 satellite: +2 scientists per month, +1 engineer per month
South America
Full coverage bonus: "We Have Ways" — Autopsies and Interrogations are completed instantly.
Monthly income from each country for deploying a satellite over it:
- Argentina: §70
- Brazil: §80
South America total: §150 for 2 countries.
South America satellite bonus:
- 1 satellite: +1 scientist per month
- 2 satellite: +1 scientist per month, +1 engineer per month
Africa
Full coverage bonus: "All In" — Total monthly XCOM funding is increased by 30%.
Monthly income from each country for deploying a satellite over it:
- Egypt: §70
- South Africa: §80
- Nigeria: §100
Africa total: §250 for 3 countries.
Africa satellite bonus:
- 1 satellite: +1 engineers per month
- 2 satellite: +1 scientist per month, +1 engineer per month
- 3 satellite: +1 scientists per month, +2 engineers per month
Europe
Full coverage bonus: "Expert Knowledge" — Labs and workshops cost 50% less to build and maintain.
Monthly income from each country for deploying a satellite over it:
- United Kingdom: §100
- Russia: §150
- France: §80
- Germany: §100
Europe total: §430 for 4 countries.
Europe satellite bonus:
- 1 satellite: +1 scientist per month
- 2 satellite: +2 scientists per month
- 3 satellite: +3 scientists per month
- 4 satellite: +4 scientists per month
Asia
Full coverage bonus: "Future Combat" — All projects in the Foundry and the Officer Training School cost 50% less.
Monthly income from each country for deploying a satellite over it:
- China: §100
- Japan: §100
- India: §60
- Australia: §60
Asia total: §320 for 4 countries.
Asia satellite bonus:
- 1 satellite: +1 engineer per month
- 2 satellite: +2 engineers per month
- 3 satellite: +3 engineers per month
- 4 satellite: +4 engineers per month