Spacecraft

Rocket with initial payload

Spacecraft are used to deliver supplies all the way from Earth, or bring colonists which have applied for a life on Mars. They come in two varieties, Rockets and Supply Pods. The choice of sponsors determines the number of starting Spacecraft.

Spacecraft types

Spacecraft come in two varieties: Rockets and Supply Pods. If applicants are transported, the spacecraft will bring 1 food per occupant, or 10 if the sponsor is International Mars Mission. Once they orbit, they can support colonists for 5 days if accommodation hasn't been completed.

If the Space Race DLC is installed, then spacecraft will come in 3 different classes, each available to different sponsors.

Spacecraft	Cargo capacity	Sponsors	Fuel needed	Price	Salvage	Commands drones	Land in dust storms	Travel time
Zeus Rocket	70,000 kg cargo or 12 Applicants	International Mars Mission USA	50 (1400 kg / 1 fuel)	$3000M $500M for Blue Sun Corporation	30 Metals 10 Electronics	yes	no	1 Sol without Plasma Rockets 0.5 Sol with Plasma Rockets Jumper Shuttle Reduces Further
Dragon Rocket	40,000 kg cargo or 12 Applicants	SpaceY	35 (1143 kg / 1 fuel)
Jumper Shuttle	50,000 kg cargo or 12 Applicants	Paradox Interactive	50 (1000 kg / 1 fuel)
Regular Rocket	50,000 kg cargo or 12 Applicants	All others	50 (1000 kg / 1 fuel)
Supply Pod	10,000 kg cargo	All except Brazil	Not reusable	$100M	5 Metals	no	yes	0.5 Sol
Large Supply Pod	20,000 kg cargo	Brazil
Ark Pod	12 Applicants	Church of the New Ark

A rocket can be built for 150 metals, 25 electronics and 50 machine parts once the Advanced Rocketry technology is researched.

Asteroid Lander

Asteroid Landers are an experimental class of rockets that can land on asteroids. They can be bought at the cost of 1000 Funding if the Micro-G Landers technology is researched, or constructed if the Advanced Rocketry technology is researched. Asteroid Landers require 35 Fuel to launch and cannot be sent back to Earth. They can carry up to 22 colonists and 80,000 kg of payload that can be edited and by default it will include enough Fuel for a return trip.

Asteroid Landers can be upgraded with an Extended Cargo Module at the cost of 5 Metals and 3 Machine Parts if the technology with the same name is researched. The upgrade increases the cargo capacity to 150,000 but requires an additional 20 Fuel to launch.

Exporting

Rockets will always attempt to load Rare Metals unless explicitly forbidden. Each unit of Rare Metals sent to Earth will bring Funds depending on the chosen sponsor. Curetatoes can also be exported for 200M funds if the Wildfire Mystery was resolved.

In Space Race, Rockets can be sent to deliver resources to a Rival Colony. As they only traverse the orbit of Mars, they require half as much Fuel.

Refueling

Rockets are resupplied using Fuel, drones will automatically stock up the rocket from available storage depots. Multiple rockets are supplied in order of priority, then evenly otherwise. Rockets require 50 Fuel to resupply, with the Martian Engines technology reducing it to 30. Having the Paradox sponsor will cause a default of 80 Fuel, with Martian Engines reducing it to 60. Fuel Refineries will normally produce 12 Fuel per sol, or 15 with the Oligarch commander profile. The rockets provided by the International Mars Mission sponsor slowly generate their own Fuel while landed on Mars.

Sols to refuel

From the above, assuming a single refinery, the number of sol required to refuel a single rocket:

	Default	Default /w Martian Engines	Paradox	Paradox /w Martian Engines
Normal Profile	4.2	2.5	6.7	5
Oligarch	3.3	2	5.3	4

Supply Pod Strategy

The supply pod allows you to send 10,000 Kg of supplies or prefabs for a cost of 100 million funds to launch, When it lands you can scrap it for 5 Metal, which depending on whether the event that raises importing costs has occurred, is worth either 50 or 100 million. Because of this The pods are actually a far less significant expense than it first appears and this means that depending on the circumstances the pod is either completely funding efficient or a minimal loss. They are extremely useful during the early game whenever you need a new prefab or more drones. Since they are not refuel-able if you use more of them fuel consumption can be limited. They also allow you to send supplies to outposts that lack fuel production without worrying about relaunching them, although if you are using the International Mars Mission sponsor or have the shuttle system up and running neither of the above is a concern. They are also good in case you run out of an essential resource like Food or Machine Parts during a storm because, unlike rockets, a pod can land in a dust storm. Brazil, due to it having a larger supply pod variant, benefits more from this.

Game concepts