Moon Sweepers Vehicles: Unlocks, Use and Upgrades

Quick answer

Build a $200 Garage before buying a vehicle. Each player buys their own: Push Sweeper $300, Ride-on Sweeper $1,000, Crew Transport $2,000, Lunar Sweeper $2,500 and Mega Vacuum Rover $6,000. Stop a vehicle on the garage's collector pad to empty its hopper into the silo.

Moon Sweepers v1.0.4 · PC / Steam · garage, vehicles and vehicle upgrades Checked 28 Oct 2026

The larger cleaning vehicles trade a higher price for width, speed and cargo capacity.

Garage

Build the Garage first

The Garage is a Services building. It costs $200 and holds a 6,000 kg silo. A vehicle parked on its collector pad unloads at 600 kg per second, and two rear ports send the dust out as 1 kg capsules. The garage also brings one vehicle at a time into its central hall; drive that vehicle out before calling another.

Patch 1.0.3 changed the garage rules. A vehicle belongs to the player who bought it, not to a specific garage. Any garage can store, call back or upgrade it. If a garage is demolished, its vehicles move to another garage or wait for the next one you build.

Vehicle comparison

Compare the five vehicles

1.0.4 vehicle stats before upgrades
Vehicle	Price	Cruise / boost	Cleaning width	Hopper	Capsules	Seats
Push Sweeper	$300	2.8 / 3.78 m/s	1.35 m	100 kg	1	—
Ride-on Sweeper	$1,000	7.2 / 9.72 m/s	1.98 m	500 kg	2	1
Crew Transport	$2,000	7 / 9.45 m/s	—	—	4	8
Lunar Sweeper	$2,500	6.5 / 8.78 m/s	2.8 m	1,200 kg	4	1
Mega Vacuum Rover	$6,000	5 / 6.75 m/s	3.7 m	3,000 kg	6	1

Values are from the 1.0.4 data index and exclude vehicle upgrades. The Crew Transport is a people carrier, not a cleaning vehicle.

The fastest option is not the widest. The Ride-on Sweeper reaches 7.2 m/s, while the Mega Vacuum Rover is slower at 5 m/s but has a 3.7 m cleaning width and a 3,000 kg hopper. A two-player crew may get more from one Ride-on and one fast transport than from saving for the largest rover.

Driving

Drive, clean and unload

Default keyboard and mouse driving controls
Action	Input
Drive / brake and reverse	W / S
Steer	A / D
Boost	Shift
Clean with the vehicle	Left mouse
Exit	F
Load or unload capsules	T
Cruise control	C
Change suction	Mouse wheel
Lights	L

The controls screen also lists controller equivalents. Controller buttons can be remapped in Steam, and there is no in-game key rebinding.

Suction modes run eco, normal, high, max and full. Higher suction widens the working strip but slows the vehicle. Use low suction for travel and a wider mode when you are cleaning a broad patch. The 1.0.4 data lists a 1.35 m base width for the Push Sweeper and 3.7 m for the Mega Vacuum Rover before vehicle upgrades.

Upgrades

Vehicle upgrades and what to buy

Each vehicle has its own levels. Only the owner can buy them, and the crew wallet pays. The same upgrade costs more on a more expensive vehicle. Seven upgrade types exist; the Crew Transport only uses four of them.

Vehicle upgrade families
Upgrade	Levels	Effect	Buy when
Tuned Motors	3	+10% / +20% / +30% top speed and pull	Travel between distant work areas is the bottleneck.
Big Hopper	3	+30% / +60% / +90% hopper	You fill the vehicle before finishing the patch.
Turbo Kit	2	Boost to 150% / 165% of cruise	You use boost often on long runs.
Cruise Control	1	Holds a set speed	Long sweeping lines feel tiring.
Suction Control	3	Up to HIGH / MAX / FULL; more width, less speed	You want a wider cleaning pass.
Quick Release	2	+50% / +100% unloading speed	The garage pad is the queue.
Floodlights	2	Brighter, longer beam	You work the night side.

Early vehicle upgrades usually go into the hopper, motor and suction control, because those affect every cleaning run. Cruise control and floodlights are comfort purchases; buy them after the farm is stable.

Limits

What the vehicles do not solve

The Mega Vacuum Rover's 3.7 m width is still tiny compared with the whole Moon. A player complaint from the launch period called it pointless for cleaning the entire Moon with that width. That is an opinion, but it points to the real limit: a vehicle reduces travel and improves a local patch; it does not replace robots, multiple work sites or the 163,842-region goal.

Complete automation See where vehicles, belts, power and robots fit in the same operation. Building refunds Check the 75% removal cost before moving a garage.

Straight answers

Questions about this task

Which vehicle should I buy first?

The Push Sweeper is the cheapest at $300 and works before the larger garage stock is affordable. If you already have a stable income, the Ride-on Sweeper is the faster all-round cleaner. The Mega Vacuum Rover is a late purchase because of its $6,000 price and slower cruise speed.

Can another player use my vehicle?

Yes. A crewmate can get into another player's vehicle. The vehicle still belongs to its owner for upgrades and garage storage.

What happens to vehicles if I remove a garage?

On 1.0.4 they move to another garage or wait for the next garage. The 1.0.3 patch explicitly fixed the earlier deletion behavior. Empty the garage silo and park vehicles outside before demolition as a precaution.

Trace the answer

Sources and scope

This is an independent, source-led guide, not a first-hand playtest. Gameplay values, build-menu details and UI behavior are checked against the 1.0.4 data snapshot and official patch notes. Your installed build is the final authority.

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