Kerbal Space Program

What is Kerbal Space Program?

Kerbal Space Program is a space flight simulation by the Mexican studio Squad. You take charge of the space program of the Kerbals – a small green species that wants to reach orbit from their home planet Kerbin. From individual parts you assemble rockets, shuttles and aircraft, launch them from the space center and, ideally, bring your crew back home in one piece.

At the core of the game is a remarkably realistic physics and orbital mechanics model. Thrust, mass, drag and orbits are actually simulated, which is why you end up dealing with launch windows, orbital maneuvers and delta-v budgets. That is exactly where the typical gameplay loop comes from: build, launch, fail, improve – until the mission finally succeeds.

The solar system around Kerbin offers plenty of destinations, among them the moons Mun and Minmus as well as more distant planets such as Duna, Eve and the gas giant Jool. Depending on the game mode you fly completely freely (Sandbox), collect scientific data (Science) or additionally manage the budget, contracts and reputation of your space program (Career).

Kerbal Space Program has one of the most active modding communities around. Mods add new parts, entire planetary systems, more realistic subsystems or quality-of-life improvements – and they can be used on a shared server as well, as long as everyone involved uses the same mods.

Kerbal Space Program does not have an official multiplayer mode. Playing together on your own server is handled by the community modification DarkMultiPlayer (DMP), which every player has to install additionally. Kerbal Space Program was released in 2015 and is available on PC via Steam.