kerbal space program xbox one opening screenshot

What sets Kerbal Space Program apart is that Kerbal Space Program 2 has been delayed a number of times, but it’s currently set to launch at some point in 2022. NASA used Kerbal to educate a new audience about SpaceX’s Crew Dragon flights in 2020, following six years of periodic collaborations. If you’ve already got the game, you’ll be able to download the Shared Horizons update for free when it releases on July 1st, and if you’ve not already got the game, it’s currently 75% off on Steam.Kerbal Space Program is now 10 years old, but the kerbals themselves-the little green astronauts who add so much charm to the intimidating space simulator-lived in the mind of creator Felipe Falanghe for a decade before he ever started making his dream game. This latest update comes even as they have announced that they are busy working on a sequel. There’s been a ton of updates and additional content released, much of it free. The version 1.0 was released to critical and commercial success back in 2015, but they’ve continued to work on it still to this day. They had consistent updates throughout development, great communication with players, and even in its most basic form it was already a fun premise: Building rockets to launch into space, with realistic and punishing physics. The very first version of Kerbal Space Program was released way back in 2011 and was considered by many to be the poster child for how to handle commercially releasing games that are still under development. Players can also use the components from the Ariane 5 rocket to build their own custom rockets using other in-game parts, remixing designs to come up with different styles. Because of this, I am very happy that these ground-breaking science missions can be experienced on Kerbin as well as on Earth.”

Both Rosetta and BepiColombo are highly complex missions that have specific challenges but prove to be very rewarding for ESA and the global scientific community. “Here at ESA, many of our engineers and scientists are very familiar with the Kerbal Space Program. The ESA Director of Science Günther Hasinger said this of this partnership between real-world space explorers and game creators: This will see players take on a similar challenge. Then there’s the Rosetta comet chaser mission, based on a ten-year mission to carefully place a lander on a comet as it was orbiting the sun. This is recreated in-game with a mission to Moho, the closest planet to the sun in the Kerbal Universe. There’s the BepiColombo Mercury explorer mission, a rocket that launched in 2018 and is still en route to the closest planet to our sun. “Shared Horizons”, due for release on July 1st, will let players construct rockets based on the Ariane 5 rocket, and take on scenarios based on real-life ESA missions.

The next update for Kerbal Space Program has just been announced.

Kerbal space program xbox one opening screenshot