Bytes

Bytes are a virtual currency added in the Research Update. Bytes are used to purchase/unlock new schematics. Bytes are gained by researching various objects in the Research Chamber ranging from Research Items (high output but rare) to Resources (cheap but low output), or by collecting harvestables from various plants, rocks or Astroneer bodies.

Research Item
Varies from 299 - 12,081.

Sorted by its category, certain research object produces different amount of bytes, with organic specimens being the lowest and artificial items being the highest.

Mineral Extractor
It may be worth considering the mineral extractor as a way of getting infinite bytes. The dirt to bytes ratio is best for titanium, where a full tank of soil will get you 2001 bytes in 15-30 minutes. The full table is here (note that some materials cannot be created in the Mineral Extractor):

Octet

Research Sample
Research Samples spawn on various plants and rocks around the planets, as well on the backpacks of dead explorers. They yield 2-200+ bytes when activated, and organic and mineral samples respawn within 2-3 minutes. They can be a valuable, early source of bytes before the player discovers rarer research items.