The world's first science-based photorealistic interactive 3D planetarium that models the entire Universe, using procedural generation for uncharted areas.
Recent Reviews:
Overwhelmingly Positive (171) - 97% of the 171 user reviews in the last 30 days are positive.
All Reviews:
Overwhelmingly Positive (9,269) - 95% of the 9,269 user reviews for this game are positive.
Release Date:
Jun 11, 2019
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Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Releasing into Early Access will allow us to greatly accelerate development. It is our goal to use Early Access funds to hire additional development staff (especially programmers) to allow more work to get done in less time.

The feedback we get from Early Access testers will help us find bugs and issues, and continue to improve performance and features. The wide range of hardware setups that Early Access testers will have will help make sure that the engine performs properly on as many hardware configurations as possible. User feedback will also be extremely valuable in guiding the development of future gameplay features and improving the overall user experience.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Our goal is to leave Early Access and release a complete product within 1-2 years.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version is planned to have a more complete set of features, such as:
  • An expanded and refined graphics engine (e.g. 3D water and clouds, vegetation, shadows, etc.)
  • Completed Flight Simulator gameplay (e.g. spaceship physics, navigation, autopilot, etc.)
  • Updated Planetarium (more tools and features, updates of astronomical catalogs, support of the full GAIA star catalog)

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“SpaceEngine has two parts: the Planetarium, and the Flight Simulator. The Planetarium is already fully functional, and is described in the "About This" section.

The Flight Simulator is in development: it currently allows flying spacecraft with Newtonian physics, including a basic aerodynamic model for atmospheric flight. Some ships have warp drives for faster-than-light travel, and custom models can be imported and configured by the end user (good for modders). The Flight Simulator will be further developed to add better flight mechanics, more autopilot features, and gameplay features.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“There will probably be a modest price increase during and/or after Early Access, but no firm decision has been made yet.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“The feedback we get from Early Access testers will help us find bugs and issues, and continue to improve performance and features. User feedback will also be extremely valuable in guiding the development of future gameplay features and improving the overall user experience.

Additionally, SpaceEngine has a wide range of modding abilities. You can find and install mods in the Workshop (will be launched soon), and propose your own mod ideas in the discussion forum. High-quality mods could be integrated into the game, with their authors being rewarded in some way.

Community feedback is helpful in guiding development. Join the SpaceEngine community on the official forum, the Steam group, in our Discord server, or in the Steam Discussion forum.”
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About This Game

SpaceEngine is a 1:1 scale science-based Universe simulator, featuring billions upon billions of galaxies, nebulae, stars, and planets, all shown at their full real-world scale. Explore Earth and our neighboring worlds in the Solar System, orbit a black hole in a galaxy billions of light-years away, or visit anything in between seamlessly, with no transitions.



All of time and space are yours to explore – cruise between the stars at a million times the speed of light, and accelerate time to watch the orbital motions of a thousand worlds play out before your eyes. Every planet you encounter in your journey will feature procedural 3D terrain with detailed textures. Everything you see in the sky – stars and galaxies, planets and moons, asteroids and comets, black holes and neutron stars, star clusters and nebulae – are yours to explore at the press of a button.



Spacecraft with Newtonian physics and pilot-assist autopilot features (in early development but fully usable) are yours to fly anywhere in the universe in the Flight Simulator mode. SpaceEngine is also very friendly for creators of mods and add-ons – create your own planets, star systems, even galaxies, import your own spacecraft models, create custom GUI skins, and more, all easily sharable with others.

With SpaceEngine, the possibilities are limitless.



SpaceEngine Planetarium capabilities:

  • Astronomy
    All types of celestial objects are represented: galaxies, nebulae, stars and star clusters, planets and moons, comets and asteroids. Known celestial objects are represented using data from catalogs: galaxies (NGC/IC), stars (HIPPARCOS), star clusters, nebulae, and planets (Solar System and known extrasolar planets). Regions of space not yet cataloged feature procedurally generated objects: galaxies, stars, star clusters, nebulae, and planetary systems.
  • Controls
    You are free to move around the universe – travel seamlessly between any object and any distance, from surface to orbit to interstellar and intergalactic space. Moving through space is as easy as "click and go", as well as game-style free flight using the WASD keys or a gamepad. Also, time travel is possible: you can accelerate, decelerate, or reverse the flow of time, and jump to a specified date. Detailed interactive tutorials will familiarize you with the controls.
  • Graphics
    Volumetric 3D models of galaxies and nebulae with interstellar dust clouds, and 3D landscapes on planets and stars. For many Solar System bodies, actual data from space probes is used, with huge, high-resolution texture packs available as free DLC. For unmapped and procedural planets, the surface is generated procedurally using your computer's GPU. Other features include realistic atmospheric scattering, eclipse shadows, animated auroras and comet tails, and physically-based light warping near black holes and neutron stars, with animated accretion disks and jets.



  • Physics
    Realistic and physically-based generation of procedural objects (galaxies, star systems, planets) and their physical properties (mass, radius, temperature, atmospheric parameters, etc). The orbital motion of planets, moons, and stars in multiple-star systems are accurately calculated and displayed. Realistic space ship design concepts and physics: orbital motion, atmospheric flight model, and Alcubierre warp drive physics.
  • Virtual reality
    SpaceEngine supports Oculus (via native library) and SteamVR (HTC Vive, Valve Index, WMR and other headsets). Support of VR controllers is partial: you can select objects with one controller and move around with the other one. Please note that VR support is still a work in progress, and new users should become familiar with the program in 2D before trying to use VR.
  • Sound
    Original background music tracks made by many authors, with context-sensitive playback. Sound effects for planetary environments and space ships are in development.
  • Tools
    Built-in tutorials will help you start using the Planetarium. Search for celestial objects by name and search for the nearest star systems. Browse the cosmos using a scalable Universe map and planetary system chart. Saving, exporting, and importing of locations is supported, which can easily be shared between users. The program keeps an automatic journal of objects you have recently visited. Learn every detail about the objects you find using the built-in “Wiki” info system, with additional hand-written descriptions of many known objects. Display the orbital paths of celestial objects, labels and markers, constellations, and other informational tools.
  • Multi-language support
    Currently SpaceEngine is available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Catalan, Chinese, Japanese, Korean languages. Many new localizations are under development. Only localizations which are 100% complete are displayed on the Steam store page, but you can enable others in-game.
  • Modding
    SpaceEngine supports creating and importing user add-ons: catalogs, models and textures for deep space objects, planets, and space ships. Spacecraft models, representing both real and fictional designs – including from popular sci-fi franchises – are commonly imported and shared by the community on the Steam Workshop.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10
    • Processor: Intel Core i3-3220T or AMD FX-4100
    • Memory: 6 GB RAM
    • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or Radeon RX 460 (4 GB)
    • Storage: 4 GB available space
    • VR Support: SteamVR or Oculus PC
    • Additional Notes: Screen resolution of at least 1280x720 required to display all user interface elements. Graphics card must have at least 3 GB of VRAM.
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-4430 or AMD FX-8350
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1060 (5/6 GB) or Radeon RX 480 (8 GB)
    • Storage: 50 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: Screen resolution of at least 1920x1080 recommended for all user interface elements to fit comfortably. Graphics card should have at least 5 GB of VRAM.

What Curators Say

74 Curators have reviewed this product. Click here to see them.

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