Space Engineers is a sandbox game where you build ships, stations and bases, and much of that work happens on the planets and moons of its star system. These are large, solid worlds you can land on, dig into and build on, and each one has its own gravity, air, weather and resources. Visiting every one in Survival is a goal of its own, and players can keep track of each planet and moon they've reached as they explore.
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Planets
Moons
What Are Planets and Moons in Space Engineers?
The star system holds the planets EarthLike, Mars, Alien, Triton and Pertam, and the moons the Moon, Europa and Titan. Each moon is paired with a planet, with the Moon near EarthLike, Europa with Mars and Titan with Alien, while Triton and Pertam have none.
Size is the first big difference. Planets run about 60 to 120 km across, while moons are only about 19 km, so the game treats moons as simply smaller planets. Both kinds are full worlds you can land on, mine and build on.
How Planets and Moons Work in Space Engineers
None of the planets or moons move. They don't spin or orbit, so each one stays fixed in place. The star is the only thing that appears to move, circling the bodies across the sky, and every one of them shares the same day length. A day lasts 2 hours by default, and you can change that in World Settings.
Gravity is the bigger difference. It's measured in g, where 1 g is the pull you feel on Earth. Planets range from 0.9 g on Mars to 1.2 g on Pertam, while every moon sits at a light 0.25 g, so things feel much lighter there. Gravity only pulls on players, loose items and moving ships, while stations and asteroids are unaffected.
The ground is destructible terrain rather than a fixed shell. In Survival you can drill into it to get ore, and in Creative the Voxel Hands tool lets you reshape the land however you like.
Which Planet Is Easiest to Start On in Space Engineers?
EarthLike is the easiest planet to start and survive on, and it's also the most diverse planet in the game. Its terrain ranges from ice lakes and deserts to forests and snowy poles. That makes it the best choice if you're new to the game.
The others vary a lot. Triton is rated intermediate, Mars and Titan are medium difficult, and Pertam is moderately hard, with its canyon floors the recommended spot for a first base. Alien is medium hard and is the most rugged rocky planet in the game. Europa is rated hard, and it's quite unfriendly to life.
Do You Need Oxygen on Planets and Moons?
Not every world has air you can breathe. EarthLike has breathable air with plenty of oxygen, and Triton is breathable at most heights, with oxygen collecting in its valleys. Pertam has enough oxygen near the surface and more of it in the low canyons. Alien's air is breathable but holds very little oxygen, though an air vent can collect what's there.
The rest need a helmet or a supply of your own oxygen. The Moon has no atmosphere at all, while Mars, Europa and Titan have thin air with no oxygen to breathe. On Titan, an air vent won't make oxygen from the thin air, so plan to bring your own.
Radiation and weather add to the danger. Radiation is very high on the Moon and Europa, and Alien has its own hazards, including toxic rain and a green haze. Mars, Titan and Pertam are known for dust and sand storms, Pertam also has dangerous electrical storms, and most of these worlds run freezing cold.
How to Power a Base on Planets and Moons
Solar panels are the power source that works on every planet and moon, as long as the sun is up. They make nothing at night, so anything that needs power after dark has to run on stored power or another source. Plan for that early, or your base goes dark when the sun sets.
Wind turbines need an atmosphere to spin, so they don't work on the Moon, which has none. That leaves solar panels and hydrogen engines as the options there.
Where to Find Ice, Ore and Hydrogen Fuel
Ice is worth finding because a generator turns it into hydrogen and oxygen, and hydrogen is the fuel for hydrogen thrusters. Ice is also found in asteroids. Triton's snow and ice cover its whole surface, which makes it an ideal place to produce hydrogen. Europa's entire surface is ice in place of stone, so it makes sense as a refueling stop for hydrogen ships. Pertam is the opposite. It has no ice lakes, and what ice it has is rare and mostly underground, so hydrogen ships don't suit it well. On the Alien planet, the ice looks reddish away from the poles and turns cyan closer to them.
Common ores like iron, nickel and silicon turn up on the planets and moons alike. Platinum is harder to come by. You'll find it on the moons and in asteroids, but not on the planets, and on Europa it's rarely visible from the surface. Uranium isn't on any of the standard planets or moons at all, so if you need it, you'll have to look in asteroids.
How to Land on and Leave a Planet or Moon
To leave a planet, you need a hydrogen-powered ship with enough fuel. A hybrid ship also works, using atmospheric engines to lift off and ion engines once it's higher up. Gravity decides how hard that is.
Takeoff is easy on the moons, where the low gravity means you need far less thrust. Pertam's 1.2 g makes launching and landing basic atmospheric or hydrogen ships hard, and its thin air at high altitude makes atmospheric ships risky to fly.
Every planet and moon also has GPS coordinates you can paste into the in-game GPS window with New from Clipboard, which is a handy way to keep track of each one.
FAQ
Will every planet and moon be in my world?
Only in the Star System start, which includes every body. On console, the presets split them between Home System, Distant Worlds and Distant Moons, other scenarios may have fewer planets, and mods can add more.
Do planets and moons have plants or animals?
Some do. EarthLike has plenty of plants to forage and wolves as its local animals. Alien has alien-shaped trees and native Sabiroids, the game's spiders, that can make building risky. Pertam's grass grows fruit, grain and vegetables, and rare Sabiroids can appear there, while Mars, Europa and Triton have no native plants or animals. Titan has no plants, but Sabiroids can show up there if Spiders are turned on in World Settings.
Can you see eclipses in Space Engineers?
Yes. Eclipses and planetary transits, when one body passes in front of another, can both be seen in-game.