Space Engineering

_{Focus Areas · Design document §3}

Available from: RK03 (Multi-Stage Rocket) + MS01 (Composite Materials)

10 breakthroughs — STANDARD 8 · UNCOMMON 2 — Atomic – Space

Builds on: Mining (1) · Construction (2) · Warfare (1) · Medicine (1) · Mechanics (2) · Chemistry (2) · Optics (1) · Nuclear Physics (2) · Quintessic Physics (2) · Rocketry (3) · Materials Science (1) · Genetics (2) · Energy Systems (1)

Leads into: Mining (1) · Construction (1) · Relativity & Cosmology (1)

_{The numbers count prerequisite links between this focus and the other. How to read the tables.}

All Space Engineering breakthroughs represent orbital and deep-space projects managed from Earth. They provide Earth-based bonuses (buildings, resource income, strategic advantages) and serve as prerequisites for the FTL/sub-light victory conditions. No new playable maps are opened.

Overview

ID	Breakthrough	Tier	Era	Prerequisites
SE01	Life Support Systems	STANDARD	Atomic	MD05 + CH05 + CO11 (Reinforced Concrete) + OP01 (Glassmaking)
SE02	Orbital Assembly	STANDARD	Space	RK03 + CO11 (Reinforced Concrete) + MC12 (Robotics)
SE03	Radiation Shielding	STANDARD	Space	(NP01 Radioactivity, or QM-E16 Boundary Survey) + MS01
SE05	Closed-Loop Ecology	STANDARD	Space	SE01 + GN05 (Synthetic Biology)
SE06	Orbital Resource Delivery	STANDARD	Space	MI12 (Asteroid Prospecting) + CH06 + MC12 (Robotics)
SE07	Planetary Engineering Theory	STANDARD	Space	GN07 + SE06
SE08	O'Neill Cylinder	UNCOMMON	Space	SE02 + SE05
SE09	Advanced Solar Power	UNCOMMON	Space	SE02 (Orbital Assembly) + RK07 (Reusable Launch Vehicle) + ES07 (Solar Panel)
SE11	Generation Ship	STANDARD	Space	SE05 + SE02 (Orbital Assembly)
SE13	Planetary Defense	STANDARD	Space	RK05 + (WA20 Drones, or NP05 Nuclear Weapons, or QM-E20 Quintessic Warhead)

Prerequisite map

flowchart LR
  n_SE01["SE01 Life Support Systems"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE05["SE05 Closed-Loop Ecology"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE08["SE08 O'Neill Cylinder"]:::UNCOMMON
  n_SE11["SE11 Generation Ship"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE02["SE02 Orbital Assembly"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE09["SE09 Advanced Solar Power"]:::UNCOMMON
  n_SE03["SE03 Radiation Shielding"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE06["SE06 Orbital Resource Delivery"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE07["SE07 Planetary Engineering Theory"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE13["SE13 Planetary Defense"]:::STANDARD
  n_SE01 --> n_SE05
  n_SE06 --> n_SE07
  n_SE02 --> n_SE08
  n_SE05 --> n_SE08
  n_SE02 --> n_SE09
  n_SE05 --> n_SE11
  n_SE02 --> n_SE11
  classDef CORE fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#1d4ed8,color:#0b1b3b
  classDef STANDARD fill:#f1f5f9,stroke:#64748b,color:#0f172a
  classDef UNCOMMON fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#15803d,color:#052e16
  classDef RARE fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#b45309,color:#3b2005
  classDef UNIQUE fill:#fae8ff,stroke:#a21caf,color:#3b0a3f

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_{Prerequisites within this focus. Box colour is the tier (blue CORE, grey STANDARD, green UNCOMMON, amber RARE, purple UNIQUE); dotted arrows are alternatives (“or”); a line can pass behind another box, so follow it from its start. 8 of these 10 breakthroughs also need breakthroughs from other foci, which the overview above lists.}

Breakthroughs

SE01 · Life Support Systems

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Atomic
• Prerequisites: MD05 + CH05 + CO11 (Reinforced Concrete) + OP01 (Glassmaking)
• Unlocks: ⟨[+10]% Strength <for [Submarine] units>⟩ — the sealed hull breathes. Prerequisite for crewed spaceflight.
• Leads to: SE05 Closed-Loop Ecology

SE02 · Orbital Assembly

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: RK03 + CO11 (Reinforced Concrete) + MC12 (Robotics)
• Unlocks: Orbital Shipyardⁿ [1000/3; ⟨Can only be built <in [Capital] cities>⟩; ⟨Destroyed when the city is captured⟩; ⟨[+25]% Production when constructing [Spaceship part] units [in all cities]⟩ — one yard in orbit, above the capital, where every city's parts are finished].
• Leads to: MI12 Asteroid Prospecting, CO15 Orbital Construction, RC11 Gravitational Leakage Survey, SE08 O'Neill Cylinder, SE09 Advanced Solar Power, SE11 Generation Ship

SE03 · Radiation Shielding

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: (NP01 Radioactivity, or QM-E16 Boundary Survey) + MS01
• Unlocks: Bomb Shelter (canonical; after MS17 Transformation Media it gains two uniques that halve what still gets through — see MS17). Radiation is named for what it does, and stellar radiation exists in every world; the warm ores taught both worlds what to shield against.
• Notes: Radiation is named for what it does, and stellar radiation exists in every world; the warm ores taught both worlds what to shield against.

SE05 · Closed-Loop Ecology

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: SE01 + GN05 (Synthetic Biology)
• Unlocks: ⟨[-10]% maintenance cost for [All] buildings [in all cities]⟩ — nothing wasted. Prerequisite for every crewed ship.
• Leads to: SE08 O'Neill Cylinder, SE11 Generation Ship

SE06 · Orbital Resource Delivery

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: MI12 (Asteroid Prospecting) + CH06 + MC12 (Robotics)
• Unlocks: Upgrades every Asteroid Mining Station: each also provides 2 Aluminum and 2 Rare Earths — deliveries from orbit, not just the belt.
• Leads to: SE07 Planetary Engineering Theory

SE07 · Planetary Engineering Theory

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: GN07 + SE06
• Unlocks: ⟨[-25]% construction time for [All] improvements⟩ — hard land made gentle.
• Notes: Not actual off-world terraforming — applied to Earth's own climate challenges.

SE08 · O'Neill Cylinder

• Tier: UNCOMMON · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: SE02 + SE05
• Unlocks: ⟨[Great Engineer] is earned [+10]% faster⟩ — the engineering of whole worlds. O'Neill Projectⁿ [world wonder; 1500; +8 Science, +4 Culture; ⟨[+10]% [Science] [in all cities]⟩].
• Notes: The ultimate engineering achievement — but you manage it from Earth.

SE09 · Advanced Solar Power

• Tier: UNCOMMON · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: SE02 (Orbital Assembly) + RK07 (Reusable Launch Vehicle) + ES07 (Solar Panel)
• Unlocks: ⟨[+1 Production] from all [Solar Plant] buildings⟩. Orbital Solar Arrayⁿ [world wonder; 2000; ⟨[+25]% [Production] [in all cities]⟩] — space-based solar power at scale, of which ES11 Beamed Power's small stations are the forerunners (ES11 is not required: chaining one UNCOMMON row on another would make the era's biggest project rare in practice).
• Notes: W18 (Space Engineering, settled) — replaces the Dyson Swarm; no forcefields, replicators or star-scale works in the Space era.

SE11 · Generation Ship

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: SE05 + SE02 (Orbital Assembly)
• Unlocks: Voyageⁿ — a new stockpiled resource, never placed on the map: the clock of a ship already underway. Generation Shipⁿ [national wonder; 1500 — logically far cheaper than an FTL ship; ⟨Requires at least [2] population⟩ and ⟨Excess Food converted to Production when under construction⟩ — the Settler's own uniques, so the city stops growing while it builds; ⟨[-1] population [in this city]⟩ on completion — a Triggerable, fired when the building is built, and addPopulation never takes a city below one citizen (CityPopulationManager); ⟨Provides [1] [Voyage]⟩ — one turn of voyage per turn]. The Generation Ship Victory (§4) is won at 150 Voyage on Standard speed, the number scaled to game speed by the World-Truth ruleset derivation. A national wonder is destroyed when its city is captured (CityConquestFunctions), so losing the launch site stops the clock until it is rebuilt — at the cost of another citizen. A deliberately slow challenge beside the intended FTL victory.

SE13 · Planetary Defense

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: RK05 + (WA20 Drones, or NP05 Nuclear Weapons, or QM-E20 Quintessic Warhead)
• Unlocks: Planetary Defense Networkⁿ [national wonder; 750/0; cityStrength +10; cityHealth +100; ⟨[+15]% Strength for cities⟩; ⟨Cost increases by [180] per owned city⟩] — one network for the whole planet, hardest at its centre; ⟨[+15]% Strength for cities⟩ — every city under the orbital umbrella. (Asteroid events have no Unciv mechanism.)