Federation Error - is it a bug or am I missing something?

[lte1000]

Game #776337061

I am Terran and am trying to create a Federation with 8 satellites from the 3 mines at the bottom to the two Trading posts in the top right. I get an error message "A route with fewer satellites must be used by including a building that is along the route". But there are no other buildings along the route I have chosen? Is this a bug, or have I misunderstood the Federation rules?

I would include a screenshot but I can't figure out how to do it on this forum, but you can probably see what I want to do looking at the game.

[lte1000]

OK, I looked at BGG and I think the problem is that I can legally create a shorter federation with those buildings by including the lab (in which case the top TP is no longer required, so it becomes an entirely different Federation).

I think I have to create a Federation including the Lab first, then I can create this Federation, which is a bit annoying but I think I get it.

[FDHenneberg]

Yeah exactly, this is a thing about federations that isn’t straightforward. There’s an FAQ on building federations on BGG.
https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Federation_FAQ

[lte1000]

That is a great link, thank you!!!