StarbaseSim

StarbaseSim is a physics sandbox where you walk or fly in first or third person to inspect and operate Starbase devices. You can manage rocket assembly, fueling, launch and recovery at real-world scale and distances, using more or less realistic, slightly simplified physics.

Assemble and launch rockets

You can drive a Self Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) beneath a booster, lift it and move it from the build site to the launch site. There, you can use the launch tower’s lifting device, known as the chop sticks, to place it on the launch mount. You can repeat the process with the second stage and stack it on top, then fuel the full stack with the tank farm and launch it.

After launch, you can perform a hot staging maneuver, return the first and second stages to the launch site and try to catch them with the chop sticks. Rockets can fly mostly automatically, or you can control everything yourself, down to the angular-velocity PID controller settings.

Co-op and simulation

You can do everything in multiplayer co-op, though it is still rough. The project aims to follow and recreate developments at the real Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, helping you learn how its operations work. If the real Starbase goes to the Moon, the project aims to go there too.

Current limits

You cannot yet fly into Earth orbit or go inside the rockets. You can follow them as an observer wherever they go. Moon and Mars, along with other features, are planned for the future.

The game offers few explanations or tutorials, so you may need prior knowledge or time to work out how things function. In-game hints and tooltips provide guidance.