Kerbal Space Program

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Kerbal Space Program is a space flight simulation video game developed and published by Squad for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In the game, players direct a nascent space program, staffed and crewed by green humanoid aliens known as "Kerbals". The game features a realistic orbital physics engine, allowing for various real-life orbital maneuvers such as Hohmann transfer orbits and bi-elliptic transfer orbits.

The first public version was released digitally on Squad's Kerbal Space Program storefront on 24 June 2011, and joined Steam's early access program on 20 March 2013.The game was released out of beta on 27 April 2015. Kerbal Space Program has support for user-created mods that add new features, and po[CENSORED]r ones, such as those for resource mining and context-based missions, have received support and inclusion in the game by Squad.Notable people and agencies in the space industry have taken an interest in the game, including NASA.

In May 2017, Squad announced that the game was purchased by video game company Take-Two Interactive, who will help support Squad in keeping the console versions up-to-date alongside the personal computer versions. An Enhanced Edition was released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in January 2018 by Private Division, a publishing subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive. A DLC pack called Making History was released on 8 March 2018.The expansion contains many parts inspired by those used in various rockets such as the Soyuz spacecraft and the Saturn V.

The player administers a space program operated by Kerbals, a race of small green humanoids, who have constructed a fully furnished and functional spaceport called the Kerbal Space Center on their home planet, Kerbin. Despite being shown as cartoonish beings sometimes lacking common sense,Kerbals have shown themselves capable of constructing complex spacecraft parts and performing experiments to realize their scientific goals.

Players can create rockets, aircraft, spaceplanes, rovers, and other craft from a provided set of components. Once built, the craft can be launched by players from the KSC launch pad or runway, or other launch pads and runways around Kerbin, in an attempt to complete player-set or game-directed missions while avoiding partial or catastrophic failure. Players control their spacecraft in three dimensions with little assistance other than a stability system called "SAS" to keep their rocket oriented.Provided it maintains sufficient thrust and fuel, a spacecraft can enter orbit or even travel to other celestial bodies. To visualize vehicle trajectory, the player must switch into map mode; this displays the orbit or trajectory of the player vehicle, as well as the position and trajectory of other spacecraft and planetary bodies.These planets and other vehicles can be targeted to view information needed for rendezvous and docking, such as ascending and descending nodes, target direction, and relative velocity to the target. While in map mode, players can also access maneuver nodes in order to plan out trajectory changes in advance.

Missions involve goals such as reaching a certain altitude, escaping the atmosphere, reaching a stable orbit,landing on a certain planetary body, capturing asteroids, and creating space stations and surface bases.Players may also set challenges for each other on the game's forums, such as visiting all five moons of Jool, or use mods to test each other's spacecraft in air combat tournaments.

Players are able to control in-game astronauts, known as Kerbals, who can perform extravehicular activities . While on EVA, Kerbals may use their EVA suit propellant system to maneuver in space and around craft and space stations, similar to the use of NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit. Actions that can be performed while on EVA include repairing landing legs, wheels, and parachutes. Kerbals can also collect material from science experiments, allowing them to store data inside the ship's capsule. During an EVA on any solid planet or moon, a Kerbal can place a flag or take a surface sample.

Historical spacecraft can be recreated and their accomplishments mimicked, such as the Apollo program, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, or the International Space Station. Players may install mods which implement destinations, weapons, rocket parts, and goals, such as attempting challenges in a real-scale solar system. Mods can also add informational displays showing craft and orbital statistics such as delta-v and orbital inclination. Some mods have been added into the game officially, due to po[CENSORED]rity. For example, resource mining, in order to obtain Ore for refining into resources such as fuel, has been officially implemented from a po[CENSORED]r mod.

As of version 1.6, the major celestial bodies in the game in order of their proximity to the parent star, often called Kerbol in the fandom, are Moho, Eve, Kerbin, Duna, Dres, Jool, and Eeloo. Community modifications are able to expand this planetary system to include analogs of the missing outer planets, as well as fictional bodies and faraway exoplanet systems.