GAME · RELEASED

Kerbal Space Program

Build rockets for the Kerbals, test them on the launchpad and learn from each flight as you explore a solar system.

Simulation Sandbox Strategy

Release Date APR 27, 2015

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Media

A tall rocket stands inside the Vehicle Assembly Building with a parts palette on the left and staging icons on the right.

A rocket rises from the launchpad with the space center below and a flight display around the screen.

Map view shows Kerbin, a green flight path and a control panel at the side.

A Kerbal stands beside a landed craft on a gray moon under a dark sky.

A wheeled rover drives over a purple-gray landscape with three Kerbals seated aboard.

Game Overview

Platforms

Made by

Squad; published by Private Division on its current Steam listing

Kerbal Space Program hands you a space center and a box of spacecraft parts. You build a rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building, put a crew in it if the design needs one, launch it and see whether it can actually fly. The little green Kerbals may look playful, but the flight responds to weight, thrust, fuel, air and gravity. A rocket that tips over or runs out of fuel is not the game scolding you; it is information you can use for the next design.

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There are three main ways to play. Sandbox gives you the parts and lets you experiment freely. Science Mode asks you to collect science from flights and experiments to unlock more technology. Career Mode adds money, contracts and management of the space program. Someone trying their first launch can begin in Sandbox to learn the controls before juggling a budget. The gallery shows a rocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, a launch beside the space center and the map view used to inspect a route around Kerbin. Those are different screens with different jobs: building changes the craft, flight controls it, and the map helps you see where it is going.

Your first goal does not have to be another planet. Make a small rocket that lifts off, lands safely and teaches you what the staging icons do. Later you can design aircraft, rovers, stations and missions to the Mun or other worlds. Squad's full 1.0 release arrived on April 27, 2015 after an earlier development period. PC, Mac and Linux were the original desktop family; PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions arrived later. The original Kerbal Space Program is distinct from Kerbal Space Program 2, so guides and interface screenshots for the sequel should not be treated as instructions for this game.

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