Starport: Galactic Empires/Planets

There are 11 types of planets of which 9 are able to be colonized by a player.

Usable
Players are able to colonize the following nine planet types:
 * Arctic: Arctic planets have neutral population growth; the population will not grow until you have medicine, Weather Prediction researched, or Anarchy government. Arctic planets produce all resources except uranium and spice, and will supply you with plenty of anaerobes and oil. The Arctic planet's unique building is the Heater Core which increases construction on the planet by 50% (was 100%, changed 2/1/05). That means your buildings and Experience will be produced 50% faster. Arctic planets provide more Experience per hour than any other planet type. Arctic planets can produce 843 Experience per hour when set to 100% construction. Arctic worlds have a very high rate of pollution.
 * Volcanic: Volcanic planets have sharply negative population growth; you'll have to replenish your colonists until you get 2000 medicine. Volcanic planets produce all resources except organics and spice, and will supply you with plenty of metal ore and equipment. The Volcanic planet's unique building is the Lava Mill which means the Weapons Factory produces weapons twice as fast. Volcanic worlds have a fairly slow rate of pollution.
 * Desert: Desert worlds have slightly negative population growth. They produce every resource, although this is said to be less useful since the Refinery is now limited to 50,000 of each resource. Desert worlds have incredible spice production, greater than any other type. If you build the Spice Mine, it doubles your Refinery's production of spice. Desert worlds have a fairly slow rate of pollution.
 * Mountainous: Mountainous planets have slightly negative population growth. Mountainous worlds only harvest metal ore, uranium, and anaerobes. Mountainous planets harvest metal ore and uranium faster than any other planet type. The Atom Smasher building lets you transform two tons of any resource plus one ton of uranium into two tons of any other resource. So you can convert 2 tons of metal ore and 1 ton of uranium into 2 tons of spice. Mountain worlds have an above average pollution rate so keep a watchful eye on it.
 * Greenhouse: Greenhouse worlds have sharply negative population growth. They produce primarily anaerobes and metal ore, with some medicine, oil, and uranium. The Ion Tower will completely hide all traces of your biodome and defenses from players with neutrino scanners. The Ion Tower does not hide the tonnage of aliens or artifacts. Greenhouse worlds have a fairly slow rate of pollution.
 * Oceanic: Oceanic worlds have slightly positive population growth. Some players enjoy Oceanic worlds because of their resource yields. Oceanic planets produce every resource, and they are the only planets other than Desert and Paradise worlds to produce spice. The Deep Sea Explorer, the unique building, doubles the research rate on the planet. They have the highest medicine production of any planet. Ocean worlds have a moderate rate of pollution.
 * Rocky: Rocky worlds have moderately negative population growth. Rocky worlds harvest mostly metal ore and anaerobes, along with a lesser amount of equipment and uranium. The Artesian Well is a structure which increases the morale of the planet. This allows taxes to be set higher without losing morale. They can provide more than enough money to cover the costs of cleaning pollution. Rocky worlds have a moderate rate of pollution.
 * Earthlike: Earthlike planets have very high population growth. Earthlike worlds produce all resources except anaerobes and spice. The Church of Earth, the special building, lowers the pollution rate to very low. Earthlike worlds have a moderate rate of pollution.
 * Paradise: Every server contains three Paradise worlds. They produce all resources. The Intergalactics' Shrine doubles your hourly Experience for owning it. Paradise worlds have no pollution.

Unusable
Two types of planets can not be colonized:
 * Gas giants: Very large
 * Tiny: Very small

However, these planets may contain artifacts or players who have landed on them before logging out. These players are often referred to as "sleepers."

Planet resources
This guide is to show you how much product you need on each type of planet to build every structure on the planet. This table is useful to allow you to start building up your product stock so that when one structure is finished you can immediately start on the next structure and not face any delays due to not having enough stock on the planet. Besides the special buildings, which are included in the numbers, rest of the buildings require the same resources from planet to planet, thus these numbers reflect that assumption. Source: User - Silurian Forum article : http://www.starportgame.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1236