There's been a lot of early access controversy and disappointment this year. Whatever your overall attitude toward the practice, I'd argue that Kerbal Space Program is one example of it being done well; with no need for reservations or caveats. It's already a good game, and frequently it becomes an even better one. Now, it's a beta one too.

A few hours ago KSP launched into update 0.9.0—the official designation of the game's beta release. There are over 170 changes found in the full patch notes, but, in a new blog post, the team explain the basics of what it's all about.

"Building upon a long term project that was introduced with the last update s destructible facilities," SQUAD write, "players will now have the ability to start from the ground up with a basic space center and turn it into a sprawling compound in the new upgradable facilities feature. It s not just buildings, either. Players will unlock new capabilities and bonuses as their career path progresses."

Kerbals also now have a progression path. As they complete missions, they'll gain experience to unlock new skills. Advanced piloting, science gathering and spacecraft repairs are some of the intrepid astronauts' potential upgrades.

You can see a round-up of changes in the below video, and the full patch notes over at the KSP forum.

As Phil previously noted, Kerbal Space Program will enter beta with its next patch, the not-too-far-from-release-surely update 0.90.0. At the time, we didn't know what this first beta version would comprise, exactly, but now we do, because developers Squad have released a big video detailing exactly that. As the four-minute-long trailer explains, we'll soon be able to upgrade facilities, level up Kerbals, and take advantage of an "overhauled" editor, which does look slightly less intimidating than the old one. That's in addition to a load of other stuff, some of which has drawn from player mods (with their creators' permission and involvement, obviously).

'Beta' is a word that means different things to different people, but Squad see it as the point at which Kerbal Space Program contains the minimum amount of stuff necessary for it to be worthy of the name. They're going to keep adding stuff during the beta, and even after release, including the long-promised multiplayer elements. The video above is just a glimpse what the game will look like soon, when 0.90.0 touches down on planet Earth.

Kerbal Space Program s update .25, which went live earlier this month, adds a lot of back-end structure, including new modes and detailed difficulty options. The design and flight of ships in KSP remains as challenging as ever, but granular controls now give you the option of enforcing harsh penalties on yourself like the masochist you are. Whether Kerbals respawn, how bad a mission failure is for your public image, and how much money you start with can all be toggled and adjusted for a game in career mode.

Science mode is new to update .25, but it s actually old—it s what career mode looked like months ago before funding, reputation, and contracts were added. In Science mode, your only objectives are making new discoveries and going to new places. Sandbox mode remains the same: it s just you against physics, and the solar system is your playground.

Much to my delight, KSP s new Hard mode is classic PC gaming all the way: minimal funding, brutal penalties for failure, and Ironman-mode restrictions on quicksaves or rewinding flights to launch. If your ship blows up on the launchpad, guess what, commander: you get to pay for a second one. As I get deeper into my Ironman career save, I may end up with a body count rivaling my misadventures in XCOM.

A new building has been added to the Space Center grounds: the administration building. Inside, members of the KSP administration involved in purchasing, public relations, research, and accounting argue at board meetings. The administration building allows players to fine-tune their agency s strategy based on current needs. If you ve had some lucrative contracts but a high-profile explosion has flushed your reputation out the space toilet, sacrificing cash for a reputation boost with a public appreciation campaign might be worthwhile. If you ve got a lot of science points sitting around and need some quick cash, a patent licensing program will help you get sorted out.

Because so much of update .25 is in the background, it may appear to be a stale, unsexy patch. That s where you d be wrong. Sexy update number one:

Space Center buildings are now destructible, so I spent some time crashing into them to test the mechanic. You know: for science. Each building crumbles and explodes in chunky gouts of flame, made even flashier by KSP s new explosion animations. When the ashes cool, destroyed buildings are useless until you pay to rebuild them. This can either be inconvenient or catastrophic, depending on the building; there s a very real possibility that crashing into the Vehicle Assembly Building on hard mode will mean the permanent end of that space agency.

Update .25 s other new hotness: space planes have undergone a full makeover. Partnering with community mod SpacePlanes+, KSP has overhauled fixed-wing designs and mechanics. Two new cargo bays (previously only supported through mods) have been added, along with new cockpits and structural options. Since a reliable space shuttle program is the cheapest way to bring supplies to low orbit, these new space planes will form the supply-line backbone for assembling deep-space missions at a space station.

Oh, and they look great, too.

Squad has already been on the horn about its plans for the next update, which will land the game in beta for the first time. Unless you ve been running self-imposed Iron Man rules on yourself or struggling with single-stage-to-orbit plane fleets, this update might not be the most groundbreaking. The supporting options are necessary groundwork for the fully fleshed-out release and, eventually, the addition of multiplayer game modes.

Kerbal Space Program's next update will be an important milestone along its development path. Not because of what it contains (we don't really know yet), but because of what it represents. In a post on the game's forum, SQUAD's Felipe Falanghe explains that, after more than three years of alpha development, KSP is almost ready to be in 'beta'.

"The next update will mark a big milestone for us at Squad," Falanghe writes, "as it is the last update focused on Career Mode. After the next release, Kerbal Space Program will reach an internal milestone we call 'Scope Complete'.

"It means KSP now has all the features we considered vital to be in the game that we designed so many years ago. It doesn t mean the game has everything we want it to have, it means everything we considered necessary for it to be Kerbal Space Program exists, even if only in a minimal form."

After the update, which will be numbered 0.90.0 to mark the beta transition, the game's development will shift to improving and further implementing the game's existing features and systems. Two desired improvements have already been revealed: more realistic aerodynamics, and deep space refueling.

For more, head to Falanghe's forum post, where he includes an FAQ on the beta transition.