The Tractor Beam is a standard piece of equipment for ships in the Sirius Sector, and allows one to "vacuum up" loot dropped by enemy ships, found while salvaging wrecks, or farmed from asteroid belts and scrap fields. Tractor Beams only work on objects within approximately 1,500 m. The default button to activate the Tractor Beam is "B".
While ships are limited in the amount of Commodities, Shield Batteries and Nanobots that can be kept in their holds, and while one can only have up to 50 units of any one type of ammunition, there is no limit to the amount of Weapons or Thrusters or Mine Dispensers a ship can have. If one attempt to activate the Tractor Beam when one's hold is full, the computer will say, "Tractor Failure!".