Watch Kerbal Space Program 2's new trailer ahead of its early access launch

Space exploration sim Kerbal Space Program 2 is crash landing into early access on February 24th, just under a week, and developers Intercept Games are celebrating with a new gameplay trailer. The trailer begins at the Kerbal Space Center, on the planet Kerbin, as the cute little aliens attempt to build a working spaceship and rocket off into the Kerbolar System. Genuine question: does this make the green minions Kerbites, Kerbals, or Kermen?

The rest of the trailer gets into the nitty gritty details, showcasing some of the 350 new customisable ship parts and the various interesting spacecraft you can fly - or crash. The sequel is changing various parts of the experience, big and small. At launch, KSP2 will have improved onboarding, tutorials, and an expanded Kerbolar system. During early access, the team will be focused on adding all new systems with more detailed planetary terrain to explore. They’ll also be implementing multiplayer and expanding the colonies feature - which lets you build outposts on planets and reach further into the deep abyss of space. You can find the sequel’s full early access roadmap here.

Kerbal Space Program 2 has had a long flight to reach early access. Since being announced in 2019, KSP2 has been postponed thrice: first in late 2019, and on two further occasions in 2020. Repeated delays are expected when dealing with spacecraft physics and intergalactic travel, but it seems there was some corporate meddling thrown in, too. The original KSP2 devs, Star Theory, reportedly had their staff poached by rights owner Take-Two, after a failed buyout attempt. Star Theory eventually shutdown, and development on the sequel shifted to Take-Two’s internal team, appropriately named Intercept Games.

Kerbal Space Program takes off into early access on February 24th for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. I’m no good at engineering, but I can’t wait to see what the internet paints on their space cars.