Kerbal Space Program partners with European Space Agency for new update
Publisher Private Division and developer Squad have partnered with the European Space Agency to release a new update for Kerbal Space Program.
The update, titled Shared Horizons, includes two new missions that are based upon cornerstone missions led by the European Space Agency. The first of these is BepiColombo which recreates the ongoing joint mission to Mercury between the ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. In this mission, players will attempt to reach orbit and land on Kerbal’s version of Mercury, Moho. While the second mission, Rosetta, is based on the successful landing of the Philae probe on a Jupiter-family comet.
Players will also be getting the Ariane 5 rocket, an ESA-themed spacesuit, new parts, and new scientific experiments.
“We are excited to partner with the ESA to bring their actual missions and spacecraft to Kerbal Space Program for the first time,” Michael Cook, Executive Producer at Private Division, said. ““It is an honor to work hand-in-hand with such a world-class space organization, and we cannot wait for fans to experience these monumental missions with the Shared Horizons update.”
“Here at the European Space Agency, many of our engineers and scientists are very familiar with KSP,” Günther Hasinger, Director of Science at ESA, added. “Both Rosetta and BepiColombo are highly complex missions that have specific challenges; however, each prove to be very rewarding for ESA and the global scientific community. Because of this, I am very happy that these ground-breaking science missions can be experienced on Kerbin as well as on Earth.”
Kerbal Space Program’s Shared Horizons update will be available on PC from July 1st, with a console release to follow later this year.
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