Space Travel – Guide

Every planet in Stationeers is a world of its own. Space Travel links them: you fly a rocket from one world to another, and everything inside comes along – tanks, storage, batteries, the seated players with suit and inventory.

Requirements#

• Stationeers 0.2.6428, BepInEx 5.4.23.5, StationeersLaunchPad 1.0, see Installation
• Mod in the active mod pack; in multiplayer the server and all players with the same version
• Optional: Skill & Level System 1.1.2 and Banking System 1.0.4 – level and account then apply on all planets

The rocket#

Built only from game parts. All rocket parts come from the rocket manufactory; the crew parts are still disabled in the game, the mod unlocks them. One pitfall first: the fuselage types have no kits of their own – a single Kit (Fuselage) builds engine mount, fuselages, doors or nose cones depending on the variant (pick with the scroll wheel).

Parts and recipes#

For a flight-ready rocket: 1 launch mount, 5–6 Kit (Fuselage), 1 pressure-fed engine, 10 Kit (Rocket Gas Fuel Tank) for two medium tanks, 1 battery, 1 avionics, for crew the crew parts + crew seat (or the Large Module), plus pipes and cables.

Assembly, bottom to top#

1. Launch mount on flat ground.
2. Engine Mount (Type A1) centred on the mount – it holds exactly one engine.
3. Above it 3 × Fuselage (Type A1), 2 m each. Tanks, battery, avionics, pipes and cables go into their interior cells.
4. On top the crew module (Type A, own cabin air) or the Large Module, with a crew seat inside. A nose cone is optional. In the game the seat of a new rocket only uses the cabin air after its first landing (in flight you would breathe outside air) – the mod links seat and cabin right away.
5. Pressure-fed engine into the mount. From both fuel inputs on top of it a pipe up to a gas tank (medium) each – with only one input it shows a fault. From the power connector a cable to the Auxiliary Rocket Battery; the avionics on the same cable network (it needs power).

Fuel and thrust#

Gas engines burn methane : oxygen = 2 : 1. The pressure-fed engine's thrust grows with tank pressure (measured at 100 % throttle):

A medium tank holds 60.8 MPa. To lift off, thrust/weight must be above 1 – the 3.4 t test rocket needs about 30 MPa on Mars (3.7 m/s²) and has 1.67 at 37.7 MPa. For landing see Arrival and landing: Moon with re-entry profile Max ≈ 1.4, with Low ≈ 3. New rockets use Low – switch to Max with the profile buttons of the build helper.

Fuel needed (measured: 3.4 t rocket, one pressure-fed engine, Mars → Moon, profile Max):

Two medium tanks at 38 MPa hold about 47,000 mol together. Important: the landing still needs enough pressure – thrust drops with tank pressure. The build helper works this out per destination.

Build helper with checklist#

Window Ctrl+R, tab "Build a rocket": standing next to a launch mount (40 m), the mod checks live the launch mount, engine mount, fuselages, engine, both inputs, power, fault, battery, fuel (2 : 1), avionics, crew seat and thrust/weight at launch – anything missing is red with a hint how to fix it. Below, per destination: fuel needed and landing thrust/weight (needs ≥ 1 + v² / 2gh). Thrust is estimated from tank pressure while the engine is not running. The Stationpedia has the guide "Space Travel: building a rocket", and the mod fills in the rocket kit texts that are empty in the game.

Planet flight#

1. Board: open the crew module door, the module's seat button puts you into a free crew seat (Large Module: "Seat" button).
2. In the tab "Build a rocket" press "Launch" at the destination: the mod sets "Planet flight: …" on the space map and fires the engines at full throttle. The vanilla way works too: computer with Rocket Control Motherboard and Logic Uplink at the base, Logic Rocket Downlink in the rocket – set the destination there and fire the engines. There is no such computer on the destination planet; the launch button works everywhere.
3. The rocket climbs to orbit and flies to the planet node (this costs extra fuel). There the mod checks fuel and thrust, uses the transfer fuel and announces the change (countdown).
4. The world changes. The rocket waits in orbit at the destination and lands with the autopilot on the landing pad.

Fuel#

Rule: 200 mol plus 500 mol per orbit unit of distance. All 15 pairs are in the setting TransferTreibstoff; TransferFaktor scales everything. After the transfer at least LandereserveMol (default 300) must remain for landing. Launch and landing use fuel as in the game.

Arrival and landing#

• The rocket waits in orbit until all passengers have reconnected (at most WarteAufPassagiereSekunden).
• It lands on the world's landing pad; if there is no free one, the mod builds one ("Spaceport") next to the start area.
• The game's autopilot controls thrust and fuel. Afterwards the rocket's own setting applies again.
• If the autopilot aborts (not enough thrust), an emergency landing follows after NotlandungNachSekunden. The window has "Emergency landing now".
• Crash protection catches an impact on arrival. If the rocket is lost anyway, it is restored from the rescue copy.
• Descent guard: if the rocket can no longer brake in time with its usable thrust (engine fault, switched off or too weak), it switches to a gentle emergency landing right away – passengers and cargo stay safe.
• Required thrust: the game starts every landing from orbit at 400 m/s. Re-entry profile "Optimal" (25 km): Moon about thrust/weight 3, Mars about 1.9. Higher profile (ReEntryAltitude, up to 120 km): Moon about 1.4, Mars about 1.2. Below that the descent guard lands the rocket by emergency landing.

Large Module#

Walk-in rocket module with an octagonal hull (5.4 m wide, 4 m tall, 2.2 m room height) and tapered adapters at the top and bottom to the width of the rocket column – with a nose cone and engine the rocket looks like one with a wide payload fairing. Kit from the rocket manufactory. It sits centred on a fuselage or engine mount; the next fuselage or a nose cone fits on top. Keep 3 × 3 cells clear around the column – at the landing pad too.

• Door: double sliding door, button outside on the right and inside on the right ("Door"); inside on the left "Seat". If the outside pressure is much lower, the door wants a second click – otherwise the cabin air escapes.
• Air: the whole interior has its own cabin air (just over 40,000 L). Fill and regulate it with the game's vents.
• Cargo: 36 shelf slots on the left, right and back walls fly along. Build the game's rocket internals into the room: crew seats, storage, capsule tanks, screen, vents, pipes and cables.
• Flying: in flight you sit. Loose items on the floor and standing characters stay behind at launch – as with any rocket. "Take a seat" next to the door puts you into a free crew seat.

Building rocket#

Move a whole building: everything standing on connected game landing pads flies to another planet as a whole.

1. Lay landing pads (any pieces, connected, at most 64 cells) and build on them – up to 3 levels high (GebaeudeHoehe).
2. Bring fuel: methane and oxygen in tanks, gas canisters or pipes on the pads. Need = transfer need of the planet pair × GebaeudeFaktor (default 2, launch and landing included).
3. Stand on the pads and open the window Ctrl+R: the "Building rocket" section shows pads, structures, items, rooms and fuel, with a launch button per planet.
4. At the destination the mod finds a flat free spot near the start area and sets the building down with contents, room air and passengers.

Structures, devices with slots and gas, loose items and characters in the area come along. If a rocket stands on the pads, it does not launch. In multiplayer there is a vote and everyone travels. Not in a server federation in 1.0.0.

Multiplayer#

One world for all (default): on a crewed planet flight everyone travels. A vote comes first (AbstimmungSekunden); the host and admins (Admin Interface) decide at once. Whoever is not on board travels along with their inventory. Without crew it is a cargo flight: the rocket lands as soon as someone visits the destination.

Server federation: each planet runs its own dedicated server with a world of that planet. All servers enter the same folder in VerbundOrdner and their own address in ServerAdresse (IP:port). A flying rocket goes to the destination planet's server; only the passengers move, and their game reconnects them automatically (also with a password). If no server runs for the destination, the flight is not possible – the fuel is refunded.

Controls#

Settings#

The setting names are German, as in the LaunchPad menu.

Troubleshooting#

• "I can't find the parts": fuselage, engine mount, doors and nose cone are variants of ONE Kit (Fuselage) – pick with the scroll wheel. A medium gas tank takes 5 tank kits. The rocket manufactory only shows the crew parts with the mod.
• Rocket does not lift off: thrust/weight at launch below 1 – raise the tank pressure (pressure-fed engine), cut mass; the checklist shows the value.
• "Thrust is not enough": more tank pressure, less mass, a higher re-entry profile – or LandungErzwingen (the emergency landing then lands it).
• "No engine is operational" / engine shows a fault: pressure-fed gas engines only run with both fuel inputs connected to pipe networks, and every engine needs power.
• Engine fires but barely pushes: pressure-fed engines deliver thrust according to the tank pressure – at about 2 MPa only around 2 % of maximum thrust. Fill the tanks to a high pressure.
• Landing ends in an emergency landing: in the game a landing from orbit always starts at 400 m/s. With the re-entry profile "Optimal" (25 km) the autopilot needs a lot of thrust (Moon: thrust/weight about 3); with a higher profile (logic value ReEntryAltitude, up to 120 km) much less (Moon about 1.4, Mars about 1.2) – it then takes several minutes. Tested: thrust/weight 3.8 on the Moon with 120 km, touchdown at 1.5 m/s.
• "Not enough fuel": fill the tanks; the window planner shows what remains after the transfer.
• Server federation: "no server": no server runs for the destination, or VerbundOrdner differs.
• Rocket stuck in orbit: "Emergency landing now" in the window.