Spaceships

All the covert machinations on Earth and industrialization efforts in space are the path for factions to build fleets of ships to protect and advance their interests. Once the factions unlock the early-game orbital shipbuilding tech, and the follow-on space dock project for their habs, they can build interplanetary spacecraft.

With the right modules, ships can prospect and found habitats, but the primary role for most ships is combat.

At any time, you can design ships out of the modules you've developed. Once you have a shipyard, you can build the ships themselves out of your space resources and, if necessary, boost and money.

Hull

Designing a ship begins with selecting a hull. The type of hull determines the number of nose and hull weapon hard points, the number of utility modules, and the length of the hull.

Shorter ships will have a lower moment of inertia, meaning they will rotate faster than their longer counterparts.

Hull	Base Mass (tons)	Base Crew	Base Turn Rate (deg/sec^2)	Construction Time (days)	Hard Points			Support Cost		Construction Cost				Required technology
					Nose	Hull	Utility	Mission Control	Money	Water	Volatiles	Base Metals	Noble Metals
Gunship	212	3	227.0	46/22.8	1	0	1	1	1	0.6	2.6	14	4	Interplanetary Warships
Escort	216	4	222.8	68/34.2	0	2	2	1	2	0.8	2.8	14	4
Corvette	382	8	96.9	68/34.2	1	1	2	1	3	1.6	5.1	24.5	7
Frigate	680	20	35.4	103/51.3	1	2	4	2	4	4	10	42	12	Patrol Vessels
Monitor	840	35	22.9	103/51.3	0	4	3	2	4	7	14	49	14
Destroyer	860	40	22.4	103/51.3	2	2	3	2	5	8	15	49	14
Cruiser	1090	60	12.6	148/74.1	2	3	6	3	10	12	20.5	59.5	17	Fleet Combatants
Battlecruiser	1130	70	12.2	148/74.1	3	2	3	3	12	14	22.5	59.5	17
Battleship	1470	80	8.2	148/74.1	2	6	4	3	15	16	27.5	80.5	23
Lancer	2100	100	4.6	182/91.2	4	3	6	4	20	20	37	119	34	Ships of the Line
Dreadnought	2430	120	3.6	182/91.2	3	8	6	4	25	24	43.5	136.5	39
Titan	2530	120	3.2	182/91.2	4	6	8	5	30	24	44.5	143.5	41

Role

Each ship has a role, which informs the game on whether the ship is a combatant or noncombatant, what range it should engage in during combat and how much propellant will it want. The role affects the autodesigner behavior and where the ship is placed in a combat formation.

• Ships with Long strategic range will emphasize propellant for interplanetary operations
• Ships with Short strategic range will limit propellant mass in favor of maneuverability

Role	Strategic Range	Preferred Combat Engagement Range
Troop Carrier	Long	Will avoid combat
Explorer	Long	Will avoid combat
Inner System Colony Ship	Long	Will avoid combat
Outer System Colony Ship	Long	Will avoid combat
Transport	Long	Will avoid combat
Strike	Long	Short
Interdictor	Long	Medium
Attack Bomber	Long	Long
Fighter	Medium	Short
Space Superiority	Medium	Medium
Standoff	Medium	Long
Interceptor	Short	Short
Patrol	Short	Medium
Defense Bomber	Short	Long

Ship Components

Power Plant

A ship's power plant provides energy to both the ship's drive and other ship systems. The mass of the power plant scales with the greater of the power requirement of the drive or the ship's systems. The power plant also produces waste heat that must be stored in heat sinks or expelled by radiators.

Note: Many drives require a certain class of power plant to function, and in some cases, a lower-tech power plant of the correct class may not be able to produce enough power to support an advanced drive.

Power Plant	Classification	Efficiency	Specific power (tons/GW)	Maximum Output (GW)
Fuel Cell I	Fuel Cell	70.0%	2,800	0.2
Fuel Cell II	Fuel Cell	70.0%	450	0.6
Fuel Cell III	Fuel Cell	72.0%	120	1
Solid Core Fission Reactor I	Solid Core Fission	75.0%	40	2
Solid Core Fission Reactor II	Solid Core Fission	75.0%	34	6
Solid Core Fission Reactor III	Solid Core Fission	75.0%	28	15
Solid Core Fission Reactor IV	Solid Core Fission	75.0%	12	60
Solid Core Fission Reactor V	Solid Core Fission	75.0%	8	125
Compact Solid Core Fission Reactor I	Solid Core Fission	80.0%	6	1.5
Compact Solid Core Fission Reactor II	Solid Core Fission	80.0%	5	5
Compact Solid Core Fission Reactor III	Solid Core Fission	80.0%	4	12
Compact Solid Core Fission Reactor IV	Solid Core Fission	80.0%	3	20
Compact Solid Core Fission Reactor V	Solid Core Fission	85.0%	2	20
Molten Core Fission Reactor I	Liquid Core Fission	85.0%	3	1
Molten Core Fission Reactor II	Liquid Core Fission	88.0%	3	750
Molten Core Fission Reactor III	Liquid Core Fission	90.0%	2.5	1300
Vapor Core Fission Reactor I	Gas Core Fission	90.0%	13	6
Vapor Core Fission Reactor II	Gas Core Fission	92.0%	8	8
Vapor Core Fission Reactor III	Gas Core Fission	92.0%	4	14
Gas Core Fission Reactor I	Gas Core Fission	90.0%	15	5
Gas Core Fission Reactor II	Gas Core Fission	91.0%	10	33
Gas Core Fission Reactor III	Gas Core Fission	95.0%	3	150
Terawatt Gas Core Fission Reactor I	Gas Core Fission	93.0%	10	1700
Terawatt Gas Core Fission Reactor II	Gas Core Fission	95.0%	3.5	1700
Terawatt Gas Core Fission Reactor III	Gas Core Fission	96.0%	1	1700
Salt Water Core Reactor I	Nuclear Salt Water Core	99.5%	0.45	32000
Salt Water Core Reactor II	Nuclear Salt Water Core	99.5%	0.080	230000
Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Reactor I	Electrostatic Confinement Fusion	95.0%	2	5
Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Reactor II	Electrostatic Confinement Fusion	95.0%	1	25
Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Reactor III	Electrostatic Confinement Fusion	95.0%	0.25	80
Z-Pinch Fusion Reactor I	Z-Pinch Fusion	96.0%	13	110
Z-Pinch Fusion Reactor II	Z-Pinch Fusion	98.5%	5	220
Z-Pinch Fusion Reactor III	Z-Pinch Fusion	99.0%	2	3500
Hybrid Confinement Fusion Reactor I	Hybrid Confinement Fusion	97.0%	4	2.5
Hybrid Confinement Fusion Reactor II	Hybrid Confinement Fusion	98.0%	2	2000
Hybrid Confinement Fusion Reactor III	Hybrid Confinement Fusion	99.0%	1	20000
Fusion Tokamak I	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	85.0%	28	30
Fusion Tokamak II	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	88.0%	14	30
Fusion Tokamak III	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	92.0%	10	212
Fusion Tokamak IV	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	93.5%	4	1200
Fusion Tokamak V	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	98.5%	1	4800
Flow-Stabilized Z-Pinch Fusion Reactor	Z-Pinch Fusion	99.5%	0.0068	300000
Mirror Cell Fusion Reactor I	Mirrored Magnetic Confinement Fusion	93.0%	13.4	60
Mirror Cell Fusion Reactor II	Mirrored Magnetic Confinement Fusion	95.0%	6.5	360
Mirror Cell Fusion Reactor III	Mirrored Magnetic Confinement Fusion	98.0%	1.2	1400
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor I	Inertial Confinement Fusion	85.0%	17.6	5
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor II	Inertial Confinement Fusion	87.0%	12	30
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor III	Inertial Confinement Fusion	89.0%	10	200
Heavy Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor	Inertial Confinement Fusion	97.5%	20	650
Inertial Confinement Terawatt Fusion Reactor I	Inertial Confinement Fusion	95.0%	1	10000
Inertial Confinement Terawatt Fusion Reactor II	Inertial Confinement Fusion	99.0%	0.068	22000
Inertial Confinement Terawatt Fusion Reactor III	Inertial Confinement Fusion	99.9%	0.002	3000000
Antimatter Plasma Core Reactor	Plasma Core Antimatter	99.8%	0.45	1200
Antimatter Plasma Core Reactor	Plasma Core Antimatter	99.8%	0.05	7300
Antimatter Plasma Core Reactor	Plasma Core Antimatter	99.8%	0.005	42000
Antimatter Beam Core Reactor	Beam Core Antimatter	99.8%	0.00002	3000000

Drive

Drives expel propellant from the tail of the ship to make the ship go places. Drives come in a variety of forms, but are rated by two common values: thrust and exhaust velocity. High-thrust drives can achieve higher velocities more quickly, and high-exhaust velocity drives use less propellant to do so. Together these values determine the power required by the ship's power plant. Adding 100-ton propellant tanks to the ship increases the ship's Delta-V, or how much it can change its speed.

Note: Many drives require a certain class of power plant to function, and in some cases, a lower-tech power plant of the correct class may not be able to produce enough power to support an advanced drive.

Drive	Required Power Plant	Thrust Rating (single engine)	Exhaust Velocity Rating	Propellant (Propellant/Tank)
Apex Solid Rocket	N/A	14.9	1.4	Volatiles (1)
Meteor Liquid Rocket	N/A	14.9	1.6	Water (0.6), Volatiles (0.4)
Neutron Liquid Rocket	N/A	15.3	1.6	Volatiles (1)
Venture Liquid Rocket	N/A	14.2	2.2	Water (1)
Diana Superheavy Rocket	N/A	15.3	1.9	Water (0.6), Volatiles (0.4)
Nova Liquid Rocket	N/A	13.9	2.5	Water (1)
Super Kronos Liquid Rocket	N/A	12.3	4.4	Volatiles (0.998), Fissiles (0.002)
Resistojet	N/A	1.0	1.5	Water (1)
Tungsten Resistojet	N/A	4.3	3.3	Water (1)
Arcjet Drive	N/A	1.0	4.3	Water (1)
Plasma Wave Drive	N/A	1.3	6.3	Anything (1)
Lorentz Drive	N/A	5.3	6.8	Water (0.75), Metals (0.25)
Helicon Drive	N/A	5.3	8.3	Water (0.9), Metals (0.1)
Hall Drive	N/A	2.7	4.3	Metals (1)
Ion Drive	N/A	1.5	6.3	Water (0.9), Metals (0.1)
Grid Drive	N/A	4.3	7.7	Water (0.9), Metals (0.1)
Colloid Drive	N/A	4.0	5.4	Volatiles (1)
VASIMR	N/A	1.0	7.2	Water (1)
Pondermotive Drive	N/A	2.2	7.2	Water (1)
Pulsed Plasmoid Drive	N/A	1.1	8.7	Anything (1)
E-Beam Drive	N/A	3.2	4.3	Anything (1)
Amplitron Drive	N/A	4.6	3.3	Water (1)
Mass Driver	N/A	4.4	3.3	Anything (1)
Superconducting Mass Driver	N/A	5.3	4.9	Anything (1)
Kiwi Drive	Solid Core Fission	6.0	3.1	Water (1)
NERVA Drive	Solid Core Fission	6.6	3.0	Water (1)
Snare Drive	Solid Core Fission	7.2	3.1	Water (1)
Rover Drive	Solid Core Fission	7.8	3.2	Water (1)
Cermet NERVA	Solid Core Fission	8.1	3.3	Water (1)
Advanced NERVA Drive	Solid Core Fission	9.4	3.0	Water (1)
Dumbo	Solid Core Fission	9.6	3.1	Water (1)
Advanced Cermet NERVA	Solid Core Fission	9.8	3.3	Water (1)
Heavy Dumbo	Solid Core Fission	12.8	3.0	Water (1)
Pulsar Drive	Solid Core Fission	7.6	4.0	Water (1)
Advanced Pulsar Drive	Solid Core Fission	8.5	5.0	Water (1)
Pebble Drive	Solid Core Fission	8.4	3.3	Water (1)
Particle Drive	Solid Core Fission	9.4	3.3	Water (1)
Lars Drive	Liquid Core Fission	7.6	4.3	Water (1)
Fission Spinner Drive	Liquid Core Fission	10.1	4.9	Water (1)
Pegasus Drive	Liquid Core Fission	10.6	5.3	Water (1)
Vortex Drive	Gas Core Fission	9.4	4.3	Water (1)
Super Vortex Drive	Gas Core Fission	10.0	4.3	Water (1)
Cavity Drive	Gas Core Fission	6.8	4.3	Water (1)
Advanced Cavity Drive	Gas Core Fission	9.4	4.6	Water (1)
Quartz Drive	Gas Core Fission	7.9	3.4	Water (1)
Lightbulb Drive	Gas Core Fission	9.7	4.2	Water (1)
Pharos Drive	Gas Core Fission	9.8	4.4	Water (1)
Fission Lantern	Gas Core Fission	14.4	5.0	Water (1)
Fission Frag Drive	Gas Core Fission	3.2	8.3	Fissiles (1)
Dusty Plasma Drive	Gas Core Fission	1.5	11.9	Fissiles (1)
Burner Drive	Gas Core Fission	7.8	6.1	Water (0.98), Noble Metals (0.01), Fissiles (0.01)
Flare Drive	Gas Core Fission	12.8	5.1	Water (0.98), Noble Metals (0.01), Fissiles (0.01)
Firestar Drive	Gas Core Fission	13.3	5.6	Water (0.98), Noble Metals (0.01), Fissiles (0.01)
Neutron Flux Drive	Nuclear Salt Water Core	14.7	6.0	Water (0.5), Fissiles (0.5)
Neutron Flux Torch	Nuclear Salt Water Core	14.7	12.2	Water (0.5), Fissiles (0.5)
Z-Pinch Microfission Drive	N/A	4.6	7.3	Water (0.5), Fissiles (0.5)
Neutronium Microfission Drive	N/A	6.6	7.3	Water (0.99), Fissiles (0.01)
Antimatter Microfission Drive	N/A	8.5	7.0	Water (0.99)*, Fissiles (0.01)*, Antimatter (1 × 10−12)
Minimag Orion	N/A	10.3	6.5	Metals (0.4), Noble Metals (0.4), Fissiles (0.2)
Advanced Minimag Orion	N/A	11.9	7.3	Metals (0.4), Noble Metals (0.3), Fissiles (0.3)
Orion Drive	N/A	15.0	5.4	Metals (0.4), Noble Metals (0.3), Fissiles (0.3)
H-Orion Drive	N/A	15.6	6.9	Metals (0.3), Noble Metals (0.35), Fissiles (0.35)
Triton Pulse Drive	N/A	9.6	7.6	Water (0.995), Fissiles (0.05)
Firefly Torch	Z-Pinch Fusion	10.7	16.6	Water (1)
Lithium Fusion Lantern	Electrostatic Confinement Fusion	7.1	4.3	Water (0.5), Metals (0.5)
Hybrid Fusion Drive	Hybrid Confinement Fusion	4.8	5.7	Metals (1)
Icarus Drive	Hybrid Confinement Fusion	10.0	10.2	Water (1)
Icarus Torch	Hybrid Confinement Fusion	11.4	12.1	Water (1)
Triton Torus Drive	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	7.1	6.1	Water (1)
Triton Reflex Drive	Mirrored Magnetic Confinement Fusion	6.6	10.9	Water (1)
Helion Torus Drive	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	5.2	8.4	Water (1)
Advanced Helion Torus Drive	Toroid Magnetic Confinement Fusion	6.6	12.9	Water (1)
Helion Reflex Drive	Mirrored Magnetic Confinement Fusion	5.7	8.3	Water (1)
Advanced Helion Reflex Drive	Mirrored Magnetic Confinement Fusion	7.2	9.9	Water (1)
Zeta Helion Drive	Z-Pinch Fusion	9.4	11.8	Water (1)
Zeta Boron Fusion Drive	Z-Pinch Fusion	10.4	10.3	Water (1)
Mag Protium Fusion Drive	Any Magnetic Confinement Fusion	8.6	13.0	Water (1)
Triton Hope Inertial Drive	Inertial Confinement Fusion	3.5	9.4	Water (1)
Triton Vista Inertial Drive	Inertial Confinement Fusion	8.9	7.4	Water (1)
Helion Inertial Drive	Inertial Confinement Fusion	6.8	9.2	Water (1)
Daedalus Torch	Inertial Confinement Fusion	10.4	13.2	Water (1)
Boron Inertial Drive	Inertial Confinement Fusion	6.0	7.3	Water (0.5), Volatiles (0.5)
Boron Inertial Torch	Inertial Confinement Fusion	7.6	14.1	Water (0.5), Volatiles (0.5)
Protium Inertial Torch	Inertial Confinement Fusion	9.1	13.3	Water (1)
Protium Converter Torch	Inertial Confinement Fusion	17.6	13.3	Water (1)
Antimatter Pulsed Plasma Core Drive	Plasma Core Antimatter	11.6	7.9	Water (0.99997)*, Antimatter (0.00003)*
Antimatter Plasma Core Drive	Plasma Core Antimatter	12.8	9.2	Water (0.99991)*, Antimatter (0.00009)*
Advanced Antimatter Plasma Core Drive	Plasma Core Antimatter	13.3	11.5	Water (0.9999), Antimatter (0.0001)
Pion Torch	Beam Core Antimatter	14.3	13.8	Water (0.5), Antimatter (0.5)

*Rounded

Propellant

Propellant comes in 100-ton tanks, and have no hard limit to the number that can be placed on a ship. However, each tank of propellant adds mass to the ship, which reduces its acceleration and gives diminishing returns for delta-V. The resources used to make propellant is determined by the drive.

Radiator

The radiator expels waste heat from the power plant. More advanced radiators can expel more heat per unit of mass. Radiator mass scales up to match the waste heat of the power plant. Radiators can be more or less vulnerable depending on the type.

Radiator (Incomplete)	Combat Vulnerability When Deployed	Waste Heat (tons/GW)
Aluminum Fin	Very High	400
Titanium Array	High	181.8
Molybdenum Pipe	Moderate	222.2
Ionic Dust	Very Low	333.3
Cobalt Dust	Very Low	200
Nanotube Filament	Moderate	153.8
Ionic Dust	Very Low	333.3
Cobalt Dust	Very Low	200
Tin Droplet	Very Low	125
Alien Exotic Spike	Low	83.3

Batteries

The battery stores power for weapons and other systems.

Batteries	Mass (tons)	Capacity (GJ)	Time to full charge (minutes)
Lithium-Ion	30	15	50
Lithium-Sulfur	35	21	56
Molten Salt	80	40	89
Salt Water	20	20	33
Graphene	120	48	32
Quantum	80	80	27
Superconducting Coil	2	40	9
Exotic Nanowire	10	60	10

Armor

Armor protects your ships from damage. There are three armor slots: Nose, tail, and central hull. More advanced armor material will require less mass per unit of armor, with some materials having extra resistance to certain damage types. Armoring the hull will add much more mass than armoring the nose and tail.

Hardpoints

Nose hardpoints fire in a limited arc, but are generally more powerful than hull hardpoints. Hull hardpoints come in pairs placed on opposite sides of the ship, and can fire in all directions around the ship. Weapons come in the following types:

- Guns: Good old-fashioned cannon (chemical slugthrowers) with performance characteristics similar to modern naval weaponry. Low-tech, cheap, and don't drain your battery.

- Missiles and Torpedoes: Will chase the target. Constrained by ammo limitations. Nuclear weapons are among the warhead types. The difference between missile and torpedo in this context is mass; missiles go fast faster and have larger magazines while torpedoes carry heavier warheads. Also doesn't drain your battery.

- Magnetic weapons: Covers railguns and coilguns that launch high-speed projectiles that can be dodged or shot down. Can be used in orbital bombardment.

- Lasers: Never miss. Damage falls off over distance. Higher input power, larger optics and higher frequencies lead to more damage. Can be used in orbital bombardment, with some limitations for high-frequency weapons trying to bombard through an atmosphere.

- Particle weapons: Short-range weapons that can do severe damage to a ship’s internal components if it penetrates a ship’s armor. Also effective point defense weapons.

- Plasma cannon: These are essentially high-speed, low-mass projectile weapons; their design is based on what descriptions are available of the real-world Shiva Star and Marauder projects. In practice, we’re modeling them as long-range, low rate-of-fire weapons to give them a distinct role in combat. Deep in the tech tree.

Lasers

Lasers	Mass (tons)	Fire Modes	Wavelength (nm)	Cooldown (s)	Base Shot Power (MJ)	Targeting Range (km)	Shot Battery Consumption (GJ)	Build Cost	Can Bombard
Point Defense Laser Turret	20	Defense	1,080	3	50	250	0.2		No
60 cm Infrared Laser Battery	150	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	1,080	30	100	600	0.4		Not through Atmosphere
120 cm Infrared Laser Battery	200	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	1,080	30	150	700	0.6		Not through Atmosphere
360 cm Infrared Laser Battery	400	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	1,080	30	225	850	0.9		Not through Atmosphere
480 cm Infrared Laser Cannon	500	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	1,080	30	250	900	1.0		Not through Atmosphere
720 cm Infrared Laser Cannon	700	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	1,080	30	300	950	1.2		Not through Atmosphere
Point Defense Arc Laser Turret	20	Defense	1,080	3	50	300	0.14		No
60 cm Green Laser Battery	150	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	30	100	600	0.5		Yes
120 cm Green Laser Battery	200	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	30	150	700	0.75		Yes
360 cm Green Laser Battery	400	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	30	225	850	1.1		Yes
480 cm Green Laser Cannon	500	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	30	250	900	1.3		Yes
720 cm Green Laser Cannon	700	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	30	300	950	1.5		Yes
60 cm Green Arc Laser Battery	115	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	20	100	600	0.33		Yes
120 cm Green Arc Laser Battery	150	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	20	150	700	0.5		Yes
360 cm Green Arc Laser Battery	315	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	20	225	850	0.75		Yes
480 cm Green Arc Laser Cannon	395	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	20	250	900	0.83		Yes
720 cm Green Arc Laser Cannon	555	Focus Fire, Attack, Guardian, Defense	540	20	300	950	1.0		Yes
Point Defense Phaser Turret	20	Defense	1,080	2	50	350	0.11		No

Utility Modules

Utility modules contain everything else the ship might need, such as heat sinks, additional batteries, space marines, a science lab, systems that improve drive or weapon performance, space station and outpost kits, and ISRU modules

Heat Sinks	Mass (tons)	Capacity (GJ)
Water	250	100
Heavy Water	500	200
Potassium	205	110
Heavy Potassium	410	220
Sodium	230	370
Heavy Sodium	460	740
Lithium	128	525
Heavy Lithium	256	1,050
Molten Salt	485	900
Heavy Molten Salt	970	1800
Exotic	250	1800
Heavy Exotic	500	3600