Kerbal Space Program 2 will also introduce a host of new of improvements including updated planets and parts, additional modding support, and an improved tutorial experience to help get new players off the ground.

Built from the ground up, Kerbal Space Program 2 will teach the joy of accidentally learning rocket science to a new generation of players while providing unique challenges and innovative capabilities to seasoned Kerbal veterans.

Fully-interactive animated tutorials will reveal the secrets of rocketry, while a revamped vehicle assembly interface combines ease of use and powerful new vehicle creation tools. The sequel will feature massive user experience improvements ranging from enhanced map and maneuver iconography to an all-new flight HUD. For long distance flights, players can now use time warp while accelerating, to remove long waits during interplanetary travel. Finally, improved contextual information will give players a better idea how to respond to unexpected vehicle failures.

Players will be able to build without the constraints of planetary gravitation for the first time, which allows for larger constructions and more complex creations than ever before – including interstellar vessels. In addition, players will be able to share these experiences collectively in multiplayer for the first time in franchise history.

On one hand, these changes will offer newcomers help up the curve for what is learning literal rocket science, while on the other, keeping the challenge bar high for veteran players. 

Today, Kerbal Space Program 2 will be receiving its biggest update yet, For Science!

The For Science! update comes with a brand-new campaign type - Exploration Mode, which adds progression and Science collection through missions, experiments, and journeying through the Kerbolar System. Collect and transmit Science from unique locations and redeem it back at the Kerbal Space Center's (KSC) newly opened Research and Development Center to unlock new part technologies, learn novel concepts, and journey further away from the Kerbal's home planet. While working through the tech tree, unlock the means to extend your reach across the Kerbolar System - from right at home on Kerbin, to the furthest regions of Eeloo, and to the murky depths of Eve. Exponential progression ensures that the rewards for your efforts match your ambitions.

How will you collect Science? With all new Science collection parts! Integrate these parts to vehicles (be sure to take note of their shape and mass, it matters!) to carry out different experiments, depending on your mission. Keep an eye out for new Kerbal animations when Science gathering during Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA)!

We've overhauled the Science collection and transmission interface for KSP2. During flight, it's now easy to know when there's an opportunity to take measurements or collect samples via a new Experiment Actions button, which provides detailed information about what opportunities are available in your current location. The brand-new Research Inventory gives clear information about how much Science you've already collected and the ability to transmit Science data. The Mission Tracker app helps you keep track of in-progress and completed objectives. New flight planning tools have also been added to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), including altitude and environment-specific readouts that show thrust-to-weight ratio, burn time, and Delta-V for each stage. Data persists and continuously updates in-flight.

On your journeys, uncover a wealth of new research locations and mysterious geological formations spread across the Kerbolar System. Locate them and unlock special Science-gathering opportunities - we wonder what you're going to find...

The days of stress-free atmospheric re-entry have come to an end with the introduction of atmospheric re-entry heating effects and thermal part behavior.

We've also made significant quality of life improvements:

• An enhanced joint system has been developed, dramatically reducing wobbliness of large vehicles
• Updated ambient sound systems
• An all-new Boat Dock - complete with cranes and gantries for use both in-and-out of missions. With this comes additional buoyancy improvements!

To celebrate the release of For Science!, Kerbal Space Program 2 is 20% off until January 4th, 2024 at 1PM ET.

KSP2 For Science! Milestone v0.2.0.0 Release Notes

New Features and Content

• Added a new game mode called "Exploration Mode"
• Added Mission Control and R&D Center buildings
• Added a Tech Tree with 4 tiers
• Added the Mission Tracker App
• Added 11 primary missions and 30 secondary missions
• Added the Research Inventory App
• Added 9 new Science collection parts
• Added several unique points of interest throughout the Kerbolar System
• Implemented thermal system for part heating
• Implemented re-entry VFX
• Implemented delta-v tools in both VAB and Flight
• Added fully-functional buoyancy system for floating vessels
• Implemented a new Audio Ambience System
• Added the first iteration of the Cheats Menu (ALT+F8)
• Added a boat dock environment
• Added two new tutorials
• Added new messages to the Cadet Orientation System
• Added dozens of new items to the Kerbal Variety System
• Added the K0 starter rocket stock vessel

Bug Fixes 

Construction

• Fixed: Attaching a subassembly to another part using the stack attach node of a symmetrical child part causes crash
• Fixed: LES "Bottle Rocket" Solid Fuel Booster appears as a white box icon in the staging stack
• Fixed: Assembly Anchors cannot be changed on non-launch subassemblies
• Fixed: Copied decouplers are not copied to a new stage
• Fixed: Symmetrically-placed parts remain held and cause a Null Reference Exception after removing and reattaching an edited subassembly
• Fixed: Area around staging stack in the VAB is camera movement dead zone

Environments

• Upgraded water refraction for Kerbin and Laythe
• Adjusted Eve's ocean waves
• Adjusted ocean waves on Kerbin and Laythe
• Adjusted Eve's ocean underwater surface visibility
• Fixed: Visual artifacts appear in Jool's atmosphere while within Jool's SOI in flight mode
• Fixed: Visible steps in cloud rotation due to low float precision
• Fixed: Cloud shadows cause light flickering on vessels in low Kerbin orbit while on high quality settings
• Fixed: Clouds dissapear at some locations when set to low quality
• Fixed: Height mismatch between local and scaled clouds under medium quality settings
• Fixed: Eve's upper atmosphere has a semi-sharp upper border
• Increased resolution for close-range terrain textures on all celestial bodies
• Fixed: Laythe low quality clouds have a pixelated glow effect on them
• Fixed: Terrain appears pixelated when seen up-close
• Fixed: Dres ridge and some other decal-based landforms don't have proper collision
• Fixed lighting flashes when loading new scenes or changing vessels
• Updated collision mesh for Air Traffic Control Tower
• Fixed: Negative scale errors reported in log files

EVA

• Fixed: Loading a game that was saved while an EVA Kerbal was holding onto a vehicle causes the Kerbal to fall off the vehicle
• Fixed: If a Kerbal jumps during time warp while in flight mode, the Kerbal becomes unresponsive
• Fixed: If ladder is shaking, Kerbal resting on ladder becomes offset over time
• Adjusted jetpack material to better match kerbal spacesuit

Flight & Map

• Implemented reinforced joints system and accompanying player-adjustable joint mode settings
• Overhauled buoyancy behavior
• Fixed: Acceleration under time warp stops working after reaching specific in-game time (UT) while in orbit around some CBs
• Fixed: Buoyancy displacement incorrect for parts with variable drag cubes
• Fixed: Landing legs deployed at high speed are ripped off of the vessel
• Fixed: Vessels sink or are destroyed due to mistmatched terrain colliders
• Fixed: Vessel falls through the ground when camera moves more than ~2500m away from it
• Improved issue where rovers flip after driving a short distance from their load origin location
• Fixed: Visual drift on several engines when using high timewarp
• Fixed: Vessel's parts move out of place when switching to a rocket in orbit while at the KSC or Tracking Station"
• Fixed: Vessels end up in a bad state when switching away from the vessel in orbit
• Fixed: Vessel's parts are out of place after disengaging timewarp at very low orbit around Mun
• Reduced floating point precission loss on rotating reference frames
• Fixed: Ship is destroyed when switching away from the vessel while engines are running
• Fixed: Two docked vessels become stuck and unable to undock after a third vessel is docked
• Improved trajectory AP/PE values changing when saving and loading while in orbit around any CB
• Added AP/PE display to maneuver trajectories appearing within SOIs
• The projected trajectory and the actual trajectory now both show periapses for the targets in relative SOIs after a maneuver has been performed
• Fixed: Kerbals appear as vessels in Map
• Fixed: Orbit tag displays incorrect celestial body name
• Fixed: "Time warp to Point" appears as an option for planned trajectories
• Celestial body name is shown on both the default and expanded view of every AP/PE marker
• Changed "Enter/Exit SOI" marker to "Encountering/Leaving CB Name"
• Orbital markers inherit the color of the current trajectory or planned maneuver trajectory
• Fixed: Vessel and other icons clip into celestial bodies in map view
• Fixed: Maneuver gizmo can still be manipulated if the player pauses while manipulation is occuring
• Added "control" and "focus" to kerbal action buttons in Tracking Station to align with vessel actions
• Fixed: Returning to KSC while paused in another SOI breaks KSC
• Reduced the frequency of "Solar Panels Ineffective" notification
• Fixed: VesselOutOfElectricity message event does not trigger when EC is exhausted
• Fixed: Notification does not display when trying to increase time warp past the limit using hotkeys
• Fixed: Player receives "Loss of Control" notifications when discarding boosters
• Fixed: "Vessel out of EC" notification fires when the vessel or kerbal doesn't have EC to start with
• Fixed: Staging a vessel collapses the Delta-V information in the staging stack
• Fixed: Vessel continues to accelerate after resuming control from Tracking Station, and turning off engines
• Fixed: Vessels on launch clamps are not considered landed when at the launchpad
• Fixed: Throttle sometimes jumps to 100% when passing 20km altitude above Kerbin
• Fixed: Some engine gimbals don't work when offscreen (e.g. in Map mode)"
• Added Vessel loss prompt when using the Escape Menu option to leave flight while vessel is on a collision course
• Adjusted flight report to remove revert options from vessels that are currently in flight or have been recovered
• Fixed: Map UI info panel fails to display buttons and flight information for EVA kerbals
• Fixed: Portraits for both Kerbals are not present when docking vessels that have one Kerbal each
• Fixed: Jetpacks sometimes show up in kerbal portraits
• Fixed: Tooltips on map items duplicated due to camera distance
• Fixed: EC values from destroyed electrical parts remain in the Vessel Resources UI
• Fixed: Flight HUD velocity displays decimals but only updates on integers at velocities above 999 m/s
• SAS vector hold indicator now displays appropriate highlight when selected
• Fixed: Temperature gauges stay on screen when switching scenes
• Fixed: Disconnected parts sometimes remain linked when joints are broken between parts
• Fixed: Kerbol not visible betwen altitudes of 1000 MM and 750 MM in flight
• Fixed: Deployed parachutes that have moved from the parts bin to the first stage do not stage properly
• Fixed: Vessels landed on CBs other than Kerbin can be recovered using Info Panel in Tracking Station
• Fixed: Part destruction causes assertion error
• Fixed: Recovering vessel causes Null Reference Exception
• Fixed: Looking directly at Kerbol from a semi major axis of ~25,210,000,000 m or more causes error flood
• Fixed: Tracking station shows shows incorrect values for atmospheric pressure, sphere of influence and rotational velocity for CBs

FX and Audio

• Fixed: Ambient sound stops working when leaving flight view and coming back
• Fixed: Audio events do not persist when entering the main menu upon exiting or saving a game
• Fixed: Audio mutes on text entry on Campaign screen if you use numpad 1 or 2
• Fixed: Audio does not detect collisions with non-terrain objects correctly
• Fixed: Water impact splash does not change with part velocity
• Fixed: Water splashes spawn at incorrect orientations
• Fixed: KSC ambient music plays while in Cadet Orientation mode
• Fixed: Math issues in water level detection vs part bounding boxes caused apparent hovering of floating vessels

Menus and Settings

• Changing from Full Screen to Windows maintains resolution settings
• Graphics Settings for resolution now default to the current resolution, if present on the dropdown
• Fixed: Some accessibility settings do not visually update UI to represent saved setting state
• Fixed: Graphics quality settings do not apply correctly when selecting medium quality
• Fixed: General settings don't have descriptions for all options
• Fixed: Part animations in Main Menu display incorrectly
• Updated KSP2 Credits

Modding

• Changed unit culture to be invariant for some text parsing scenarios

Optimization

• Improved performance of SimulationObjectView by returning pre-cached components
• Improved performance of loading stock vessel metadata by only reading from meta json files
• Moved buoyant force algorithm to job system to address spinning of floating parts and to improve performance and stability
• Improved water detection performance
• Terrain rendering time reduced by ~30-50% based on location
• Removed separate re-rendering of cloud edges to improve performance 
• Fixed: Cloud resources not released after changing cloud quality settings
• Optimized shadow rendering for clouds
• Fixed: Light bulb parts cause performance issues
• Fixed: Frame rate drops when generating new Kerbals using the Kerbal Manager in the VAB
• Fixed: Memory leak in PartBehaviorSystem

Parts and Stock Vessels

• Fixed: "RF-AD-XL 2500" fueled adapter model is invisible
• Fixed: "Tuba" engine experiences attachment offset at high warp speeds
• Fixed: Landing legs and wheel parts under compression fully extend during timewarp
• Fixed: Landing legs have issues when switching to map while they are extending or retracting
• Fixed: Labradoodle engine moves out of place when timewarping at 1,000,000x speed in flight
• Fixed: Already-deployed shrouds sometimes reappear when game is reloaded
• Added heatshield functionality to existing heatshield parts
• Fixed: DTS-M1 antenna collider stuck in deployed state
• Fixed: Surface attach node definition for MK3 engine mount is missing
• Added bottom node to inflatable heat shield
• Fixed: Stack-attached parts incorrectly detected as contents of a cargo bay
• Fixed: Missing drag properties for some structural parts
• Improved clipping of landing legs through terrain and other surfaces during time warp
• Minor tuning pass on many parts, including Command and Structural drag cube and buoyancy scalars
• Tuning pass on drag cubes for all parts
• Fixed: "Goliath" engine fan doesn't animate when throttled up/down

Saving and Loading

• Fixed: Title freezes at loading screen after reverting to the VAB several times from flight
• Fixed: Save files take a long time to load, and in some cases the vessel is absent after loading
• Fixed: Struts don't appear on a vessel if the vessel was previously loaded onto a launch pad
• Fixed: Close button doesn't work in the Workspace File Name input field inside the Save Worspace dialog
• Changed "vehicles" to "workspaces" in VAB Save/Load menu titles to reduce confusion
• Fixed: Save Workspace menu shows vehicle names instead of workspace names for player workspaces

Tutorials

• Fixed: Title crashes after deleting parts during tutorial 1 and then quitting to main menu
• Added a setting to disable Cadet Orientation after creating a campaing
• Fixed getting stuck on the final step after using time warp to reach a stable orbit trajectory during tutorial "Establishing an Orbit"
• Fixed voice over getting stuck when player fails tutorial "Manipulating Orbits"
• Fixed: Tutorial highlight overlaps Altimiter in the Flight Cluster
• Fixed: Engineer's Report and Flight Planner crowd one another in the VAB tutorial
• Updated arrows position for several tutorials

UI/UX

• Updated UI for the KSC launchpad menu
• Updated UI for the Training Center
• Updated Launchpad Menu UI
• Updated UI on the KSC Menu
• Updated visuals for alert notifications panel
• Updated visuals for UI Notifications 
• Passive notifications moved to the top of the screen
• Updated UI for all app windows for stylistic consistency
• Fixed: Alert & Passive Notifications don't scale properly when switching between resolutions
• Fixed: Passive notifications remain on screen indefinitely when the game is paused
• Updated boat launch icon
• Consistency pass on KSC facility icons
• Updated color for scrollbars
• Increased font size for Game mode descriptions
• Updated UI on tutorial arrows and indicator areas
• Resized tutorial arrows
• Tutorial gifs display at consistent size
• Fixed: Fuzzy edges on the VAB Tool Bar UI
• Fixed: UI does not properly highlight when hovering on the save vehicle save/load menu
• Fixed: Ellipses have incorrect vertical position due to font issue
• Fixed: Action Bar Bento Menu button text runs into edge of box
• Fixed: Text misaligned when viewing EVA controls in flight
• Fixed: Text is cut off and illegible in the Time Warp and Breadcrumb UI while on the lowest fullscreen resolution
• Fixed: Text cut off in Training Center due to scroll masking

Known Issues

If paused in-flight, switching to Mission Control causes the loading screen to hang

Workaround: press '>' to resume time

Orbit Surveys are difficult to run on small celestial bodies

Workaround: geostationary or big elliptical orbits should allow the player to run those experiments. The intention of this part is for it to scan the regions underneath the vessel as it moves over them - however right now it pauses when a new region is encountered, something that occurs a lot when moving fast over some CBs. We are internally testing improvements to this so the part can get its data with less babysitting

Miscellaneous text issues in missions, i.e. debrief text repeating

Significant amounts of text went into this update, so of course a few things slipped through the cracks. Even if they're minor, please do report them!

Separators below a root part will cause improper separation causing loss of control

Workaround: Consider using decouplers instead of separators if you are running into this issue

Solar panels are sometimes blocked when in Jool's sphere of influence even when Kerbol is in clear view

After staring at the sun from Jool's 'surface', black dots may appear and persist even when transitioning back to the KSC

Surface-attached lights don't turn on properly when launching for the first time

Common Workarounds

If you run into an issue, the first thing you should try to save and reloading. We have found many common issues to be quickly fixed using this method. You could additionally try reverting to launch.

Performance may degrade over very long play sessions, but restarting the game client should fix this.

A Note on Heat

It's important to keep in mind that the Part Heat system in KSP2 is different than KSP1, so do not expect parity in this area. Tuning the numbers for the heat system will be a long-term project, so feedback is appreciated!

Kerbal Space Program 2 will be available for PC in 2024 at $49.99, followed by consoles at a later time.