The ecliptic is the plane the planets travel in — and the nest where dust and asteroids gather. Everyone travels along it, because leaving it has a price.

Deflection Thrusters build a field that pushes a platform's orbit up out of that plane. The steeper the tilt, the cleaner the lane: first only small collectable chunks, then empty high-latitude space.

What it does
One tier per working thruster: 1 thruster keeps the vanilla route; 2 unlock an off-plane lane with collectable small chunks only; 3 or more give a lane with no asteroids at all
Steeper tilt, higher speed: 1000 → 1750 → 2500 km/s, then +500 per extra thruster
Deflection has a price: dearer near a star, deeper in a planet's gravity well and the heavier the ship. Low fluid steps the tier down with a countdown; running dry brakes the platform and drops it back into the ecliptic
Lane changes are announced with a countdown and a smooth speed ramp
Production chain
Gleba: joint bacteria → biogenic dispersant
Fulgora: holmium solution → refined holmium additive
Vulcanus: tungsten carbide → wear-resistant separator cartridge
Shattered planet: promethium asteroid chunks → promethium extract
Orbital centrifuge: refines cryogenic propellant and promethium activator