Thruster

Thrusters for both small and large ships require reactor energy and apply two different kinds of thrust. A thruster applies its maximum thrust while stabilizing with inertial dampeners on and roughly one-tenth that force when using the movement keys. While dampening the thrusters use 150% of their normal power level. This means a ship will stabilize faster if the pilot does not activate any maneuvering controls.

To calculate how many thrusters you need, use Newton's Second Law, specifically the formula F=ma. Here F is force in newtons, m is the mass of the ship in kilograms and a is the desired acceleration in meters per second². For additional ease of use it may be helpful to think of a as the final velocity (in meters per second), minus the initial velocity all over time (in seconds). Using this definition of a=(v_f-v_i) / t it is possible to choose a speed of travel and the time it will take your craft to reach it. In terrestrial terms this would be akin to the zero to 60 metric for cars. By dividing your calculated force by the listed thrust of the engine you choose, you arrive at the number of thrusters needed.

For example, if you have a 2 million kg large ship that needs to accelerate 5 m/s² you would use the following equation. F = 2,000,000 kg x 5 m/s², resulting in 10 MN thrust required. Large thrusters for large ships produce 1.2 MN of force. 10 MN divided by 1.2 MN gives you a total of 8.33. This is the number of large thrusters you would need both to accelerate and manually brake. If you apply the other definition of acceleration you can find the time it takes your ship to reach an arbitrary speed. If you let your cruise speed equal 100 m/s the equation solved for time will be t = v / a. Substituting the values in results in a zero to 100 time of 20 seconds for this particular ship. It's important to note these calculations only hold true for manual firing of the thrusters. Automatic inertial dampening will produce much higher forces and therefore lower times to zero velocity, in this case approximately 2 seconds.

Currently thrusters act in a purely linear fashion and do not turn vehicles. See Gyroscope for information on rolling and turning.

Thrusters

Block	Icon	Mass for Small ships (kg)	Mass for Large ships (kg)	Description
Small Thruster
Large Thruster

Small Thrust

A small component to create thrust for your ship.

Large Thrust

A large component to create thrust for your ship.

Thruster Characteristics

Small Ships

		Force (N)	Power (GW)	Mass (Kg)
Small Thruster	Max	18 165	2.52	93
	Maneuvering	12110	1.68
Large Thruster	Max	218 250	30	721
	Maneuvering	145 500	20

Large Ships

		Force (N)	Power (MW)	Mass (Kg)
Small Thruster	Max	~1 000 000	0.84	3384
	Maneuvering	100 440	0.56
Large Thruster	Max	~12 000 000	10.08	43212
	Maneuvering	1 210 000	6.72