Space Engine | the universe simulator
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Universe simulator

News
  • 21May 2018
    Constellations

    Introducing a new feature, which SpaceEngine needed for a long time – constellations! They were implemented with collaboration with ESO ePOD ...

  • 14Apr 2018
    Texture compression

    As I have mentioned in my previous blog post, I want to use texture compression for the terrain engine, in order to reduce its memory requirements. Al...

  • 23Mar 2018
    Terrain engine upgrade #6

    During the past two months, I have been working 50/50 on Overview and SpaceEngine. Work on Overview continues: we are still not released on the Oculus...

Support the project

SpaceEngine exists on donations. Your support is very important for further development of the project!

  • $1000/month – Developing SpaceEngine on a daily basis
  • $2000/month – One additional remote programmer
  • …

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About

SpaceEngine is a realistic virtual Universe you can explore on your computer. You can travel from star to star, from galaxy to galaxy, landing on any planet, moon, or asteroid with the ability to explore its alien landscape. You can alter the speed of time and observe any celestial phenomena you please. All transitions are completely seamless, and this virtual universe has a size of billions of light-years across and contains trillions upon trillions of planetary systems. The procedural generation is based on real scientific knowledge, so SpaceEngine depicts the universe the way it is thought to be by modern science. Real celestial objects are also present if you want to visit them, including the planets and moons of our Solar system, thousands of nearby stars with newly discovered exoplanets, and thousands of galaxies that are currently known.

Download SpaceEngine 0.980Download SpaceEngine 0.980

Capabilities
EXPLORE THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE FORGET ABOUT SPACE AND TIME RESTRICTIONS BECOME A PIONEER WITH SPACEENGINE
All types of celestial objects

represented

Galaxies, nebulae, stars and star clusters, planets and moons, comets and asteroids

Thousands of known

celestial objects

Known galaxies, stars, planets, asteroids, nebulae are represented using catalogs: HIPPARCOS, NGC/IC, Messier, MPC, NASA Exoplanet Archive and many others

procedural generation

for uncharted regions

Uncharted regions of space feature procedurally generated objects: galaxies, stars, star clusters, nebulae and planetary systems

Incredibly huge

and realistic Universe

Trillions of galaxies with billions of star systems in each, everything is realistically scaled

free to move

around the universe

Seamless transition from the surface of a planet to the most distant galaxies, and free game-like movement with the WASD keys

Easy navigation

many useful tools

Click on any visible object with the mouse and hit the 'G' key to fly directly to it. Search for objects by name, search by parameters within a certain radius, browse an interactive map of the surrounding space and view a map of the current planetary system

Save locations

and name objects

Save a favorite point in space and time and share it with friend. Give a name to any discovered planet, star or galaxy, and write a description for it.

Observe the Universe

in motion

Accelerate, decelerate, or reverse the flow of time to see the orbital motion of planets and moons, and watch sunsets and eclipses

Tools to learn

how the Universe works

Read detailed physical and astronomical data of any celestial body using the built-in Wiki system. Look at the orbital path lines of planets and moons, and compare their size side-by-side

3D landscapes on planets

volumetric galaxies and nebulae

Solar System bodies have real terrain models obtained by space probes; realistic hi-detail terrain on procedural planets

Photorealistic

graphics

Photorealistic lighting and atmospheric model

Space ships

with realistic orbital mechanics

Pilot star ships with realistic orbital mechanics, Alcubierre warp drives, and aerodynamics in planetary atmospheres

Multilanguage

interface

Localization in 20 languages, with a simple system for creating new translations

Huge modding

ability

Import space ship models, planetary surface textures and terrain, astronomical catalogs, and more

And much more

Movement made possible with free, spacecraft or aircraft mode

"Select and fly" autopilot to automatically go directly to the object

Automatic binding of the observer to moving objects

Automatic selection of optimum flight speed

Built-in wiki system with descriptions and ability to extend

Ability to import user addons: models, textures, catalogs

3D models of galaxies and nebulae with interstellar dust clouds

Accurate planetary atmosphere models

Controllable space ships

Original music with context-dependent track switching

Localization in many languages, with the ability to add new ones

System requirements

  • Minimum

    • Dual-core 2 GHz
    • 4 GB RAM
    • NVidia or AMD/ATI 1 GB VRAM
    • Windows XP

  • Recommended

    • Quad-core 3 GHz
    • 8 GB RAM
    • NVidia or AMD/ATI 2 GB VRAM
    • Windows 7/8/8.1/10