Quick Start Guide
Your goal is to build a profitable space company. Here's how to earn your first revenue in 3 steps:
- 1.Go to Build tab → select Earth Surface → build a Ground Station ($30M, 4 months to build)
- 2.Unpause the game — press 2x or 5x speed and wait for construction to finish
- 3.When the building completes, a service auto-activates and you start earning revenue every month!
Then build a Small Launch Pad and Mission Control to multiply your income. See the full strategy guide below.
Getting Started
How do I start making money?
You start with $500M. To generate ongoing revenue, you need to build infrastructure that enables services. The fastest path to revenue:
1. Build a Small Launch Pad ($50M, 6 months) → auto-activates "Small Launch Services" earning $5M/mo net profit
2. Build a Ground Station ($30M, 4 months) → auto-activates "Satellite Tracking Services" earning $2.2M/mo net profit
3. Build a Mission Control Center ($80M, 8 months) → auto-activates "Mission Operations Contracts" earning $4M/mo net profit
Once construction finishes, services activate automatically and revenue starts flowing. You need to unpause the game (press 1x, 2x, 5x, or 10x) for time to pass and construction to complete.
I built buildings but I'm not earning anything. What's wrong?
Three common reasons:
1. Construction isn't finished yet. Buildings take months to build. Check the Dashboard for "Under Construction" items — they show completion dates. Revenue only starts when construction is complete.
2. The game is paused. Make sure you've pressed a speed button (1x, 2x, 5x, or 10x). The ⏸ button pauses time.
3. The building doesn't generate revenue. Check the Build panel — buildings that generate revenue show which service they enable. Some buildings (like solar farms) provide support but don't directly earn money.
What does each speed setting do?
Speed controls how fast in-game time passes:
- ⏸ Pause — Time stops. Use this to plan your next moves.
- 1x — 1 game month every 2 real seconds
- 2x — 1 game month every 1 second
- 5x — 1 game month every 0.4 seconds
- 10x — 1 game month every 0.2 seconds (fastest)
Your monthly revenue and costs are calculated each game month regardless of speed.
Buildings & Revenue
What does each building do?
Earth Surface buildings:
- Small Launch Pad — Enables launch services ($8M/mo revenue). Your bread-and-butter early income.
- Medium Launch Pad — Requires Reusable Boosters research. $25M/mo revenue.
- Heavy Launch Pad — Requires Super Heavy Lift research. $80M/mo revenue.
- Ground Station — Satellite tracking services ($3M/mo revenue). Quick to build (4 months).
- Mission Control — Mission operations contracts ($6M/mo revenue).
LEO (Low Earth Orbit) buildings:
- LEO Telecom Satellite — Broadband internet service ($5M/mo). No research needed.
- LEO Sensor Satellite — Earth observation imagery ($4M/mo). Needs High-Res Optical research.
- Orbital Outpost (space station) — Space tourism ($8M/mo). Needs Modular Spacecraft research.
- Orbital Data Center — AI compute services ($15M/mo). Needs Rad-Hardened Processors research.
- Orbital Fabrication Lab — Manufacturing ($12M/mo). Needs Orbital Assembly research.
- Orbital Solar Farm — Powers other orbital facilities. No direct revenue.
Revenue increases as you unlock more locations (Moon, Mars, asteroids) and build higher-tier infrastructure.
How do services work?
Services are your revenue generators. When a building completes construction, any service it enables is automatically activated. You don't need to do anything extra.
Each service has:
- Revenue/month — How much it earns
- Operating cost/month — How much it costs to run
- Net profit = Revenue minus Operating cost
You can see all active services in the Services tab with a breakdown of revenue and costs.
Why do buildings cost more when I build multiple?
Each duplicate building at the same location costs 15% more than the last. This is cost scaling — it prevents you from just spamming one building type. Your first Small Launch Pad costs $50M, the second costs $57.5M, the third costs $66.1M, and so on. Strategy matters: diversify your infrastructure for better economics.
What's the difference between maintenance cost and operating cost?
Maintenance cost is a monthly fee just for owning a building, regardless of whether it's running a service. Think of it as rent and upkeep.
Operating cost is the monthly cost of running a service. This only applies to active services.
Both are deducted from your income each month.
Research
How does research work?
Research unlocks new buildings, services, and locations. The flow:
1. Go to the Research tab
2. Find a technology you can afford (white border = available, gray = locked by prerequisites)
3. Click Start — this costs money upfront and takes several game months
4. Only one research at a time — choose wisely
5. When complete, new buildings and capabilities unlock automatically
Research is organized into 9 branches with 5 tiers each, from present-day tech (Tier 1) to far-future concepts like fusion drives and antimatter propulsion (Tier 5).
What should I research first?
Best early research paths:
For revenue: High-Res Optical ($100M) → unlocks LEO Sensor Satellites for Earth observation income
For expansion: Reusable Boosters ($200M) → unlocks Medium Launch Pad + lunar missions
For tech income: Rad-Hardened Processors ($200M) → unlocks Orbital Data Centers ($15M/mo!)
For passive income: Triple-Junction Solar Cells ($60M) → unlocks solar farms
For infrastructure: Modular Spacecraft ($150M) → unlocks space stations + tourism
The cheapest and fastest research is Triple-Junction Solar Cells (6 months, $60M). The highest early ROI is Rad-Hardened Processors → build an Orbital Data Center.
What do the research prerequisites mean?
Some technologies require you to complete other research first. For example, "Super Heavy Lift" requires "Rapid Launch Cadence" which requires "Reusable Boosters." You must research them in order.
Some advanced techs have cross-branch prerequisites — e.g., "Asteroid Capture" requires both "Regolith Processing" (Mining) and "Autonomous Docking" (Spacecraft). These create interesting strategic decisions about which branches to invest in.
Solar System & Expansion
How do I expand to the Moon and beyond?
New locations must be unlocked by spending money and completing required research:
- GEO (Geostationary Orbit) — $50M, no research needed. Premium telecom satellites.
- Lunar Orbit — $1B, needs Reusable Boosters
- Lunar Surface — $2B, needs Reusable Boosters + Modular Spacecraft
- Mars Orbit — $10B, needs Super Heavy Lift + Ion Drives
- Mars Surface — $25B, needs above + Resource Prospecting
- Asteroid Belt — $15B, needs Asteroid Capture + Autonomous Docking
- Jupiter System — $100B, needs Nuclear Thermal + Interplanetary Cruisers
- Saturn System — $200B, needs above + Deep Drilling
- Outer System — $500B, needs Fusion Drive + Generation Ships
Go to the Map tab to see all locations and their unlock requirements.
Why should I expand to new locations?
Each new location offers unique buildings and higher-revenue services:
- Moon — Lunar ice mining ($20M/mo), lunar tourism ($30M/mo), lunar manufacturing
- Mars — Resource extraction ($40M/mo), Mars tourism ($100M/mo!)
- Asteroid Belt — Asteroid metals ($60M/mo) — the most profitable mining
- Jupiter — Europa drilling ($150M/mo) — highest Tier 4 revenue
- Saturn — Titan hydrocarbons ($200M/mo) — highest mining revenue
The further you expand, the more you earn. But expansion is expensive — you need a solid revenue base first.
Strategy Tips
What's the best strategy for beginners?
Phase 1 (Year 2025-2030): Build your revenue base on Earth
- Build a Ground Station first (cheapest, fastest at 4 months)
- Build a Small Launch Pad (6 months, $5M/mo net)
- Build a Mission Control Center (8 months, $4M/mo net)
- Start researching: Triple-Junction Solar Cells → Rad-Hardened Processors
Phase 2 (Year 2030-2035): Go to orbit
- Build LEO Telecom Satellites ($5M/mo each, no research needed!)
- Build an Orbital Data Center once Rad-Hard Processors completes ($15M/mo net!)
- Research Reusable Boosters to unlock Moon missions
- Unlock GEO for premium telecom satellites
Phase 3 (Year 2035-2045): Expand to the Moon
- Unlock Lunar Surface, build mining and manufacturing
- Research toward Mars capabilities
Speed tip: Use 5x or 10x speed when waiting for construction, then pause to make decisions.
How do I avoid going bankrupt?
Watch your net income in the resource bar at the top. If it's red (negative), you're losing money each month.
Common causes of bankruptcy:
- Building too many things at once without revenue to cover maintenance
- Unlocking expensive locations before you can afford to build there
- Starting expensive research without enough cash reserves
Rule of thumb: Keep at least 6 months of operating costs in reserve. If your monthly costs are $10M, keep $60M+ in the bank.
Does the game save automatically?
Yes! The game auto-saves every 30 seconds. You can also manually save by clicking the 💾 button in the tab bar. Your save is stored in your browser's local storage.
Warning: Clearing your browser data will delete your save. Use the same browser to continue playing.
Quick Revenue Reference
| Building | Location | Net Profit/mo | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground Station | Earth | $2.2M | Nothing |
| Small Launch Pad | Earth | $4.5M | Nothing |
| Mission Control | Earth | $3.2M | Nothing |
| LEO Telecom Satellite | LEO | $3.3M | Nothing |
| LEO Sensor Satellite | LEO | $2.75M | High-Res Optical |
| Orbital Data Center | LEO | $8M | Rad-Hard Processors |
| Orbital Outpost | LEO | -$1M* | Modular Spacecraft |
| Medium Launch Pad | Earth | $15.5M | Reusable Boosters |
| GEO Telecom Sat | GEO ($50M) | $8.2M | Unlock GEO |
| Lunar Ice Mine | Moon ($2B) | $9M | Resource Prospecting |
* Orbital Outpost costs more in maintenance than tourism revenue. It becomes profitable with Rotating Habitats research. Net = service revenue - service operating cost - building maintenance.