Orbit

Orbit is a new region separate from the world map introduced by the Odyssey DLC. Orbit is accessible via the World interface and the player can use the 'view planet' and 'view orbit' buttons to switch between planetary and orbital views. Locations in orbit differ from locations on the planet and have additional challenges in order to survive and thrive.

Summary

Orbit is a hostile and limited environment comprised of vacuum, at a temperature extreme of -75 °C (-103 °F).

Transport pods, imperial shuttles, passenger shuttles, or a gravship are required in order to travel to, from and in-between orbital locations. In addition, to prevent immediate death from vacuum exposure, pawns require some form of vacuum resistance such as vacsuits or advanced armours in order to survive the vacuum of space. It is possible to travel to the orbit without prior protection against the vacuum of space, thus extra care must be taken to ensure the gravship and pawns are space ready.

When using a gravship in orbit, players must also manage heat, oxygen, and enclosure, as such, a gravship should be well heated, well supplied with oxygen using oxygen pumps, and contain rooms fully enclosed with walls that are suitable against vacuum such as metal stuffed walls or gravship hulls. Unroofed areas in orbit are also exposed to being pummeled by orbital debris.

It is possible to construct a base entirely within orbit in one of the locations shown or discovered, however doing so is challenging and requires preparation. If a gravship is damaged or has run out of fuel in orbit, it is possible to become stranded and eventually lose a colony.

Restrictions

Certain events and abilities are prevented while in orbit. These include:

• Most events and quests are disabled. The only meaningful non-raid events that are possible are meteorites, orbital debris, ship chunk crashes, and cargo pods.
• All raid types are forced to map edge or randomly placed drop pod raids.
  • Anomaly DLC raids are also disabled, preventing entity attacks. The provoke pit gate and draw fleshbeasts psychic rituals cannot be initiated.
• Terrain is limited to cold vacstone and ancient steel tile, meaning crops cannot be grown without hydroponics basins or an archean tree to slowly convert asteroid rock into rich soil.
• Outside buildings uncovered by roofs are vulnerable to orbital debris.
• Military assistance cannot be requested. ^{[Do allies still send unsolicited aid?]}
• Weather is not possible, preventing use of tornado generators, the psycast Flashstorm and the blood rain ritual.
• There is no way to exit the map by foot. This means prisoners and slaves will never try to escape in orbit, and raiders won't flee once enough are killed.
• Some permits do not function in orbit. See that page for details.
• Mortars are completely disabled.

Some mechanics are possible but are limited while inside a vacuum:

• Fire and gases will dissipate extremely quickly while exposed to vacuum. Exposed plants outside of archean trees will be killed very quickly.
• Animals have non-existent vacuum resistance options. Most will become unconscious and die immediately following a breach, and even bioengineered insects will eventually become useless from hypothermic slowdown.

Locations

Locations within the orbit vary between:

• Resource asteroids, primarily made of vacstone and containing mineable ores and the odd archean tree.
• Orbital item stash: an asteroid with a hollow core containing structures with loot.
• Abandoned platform: an ancient steel orbital platform with no signs of life.
• Orbital wrecks: the wreckages of abandoned platforms that are claimed by hostile salvagers.
• Satellites: abandoned solar powered platforms usually protected by outside uranium slug turrets.
• Mechanoid Platforms, orbital platforms with high mechanoid activity. This includes the Mechhive.

Analysis

Permanent Colony

Orbit is the most hostile biome in the game, swiftly killing pawns without the proper gear. In many cases, it is more practical to make temporary visits whenever something needs to be done in orbit, as it is easier, cheaper, and safer to live on the planet. However, living permanently in orbit is possible, and preferred by ideoligions with the Shipborn meme.

There are different approaches to creating a permanent in-orbit base:

1. Creating a self-sustaining gravship. This has the benefit of being able to travel freely, but is limited by size, especially without grav extenders.
2. Settling on an asteroid, bringing an initial supply of resources from the planet.
3. Settling on an (abandoned) orbital platform, which provides a huge pre-built building, as well as many life support units that permanently provide free heat, oxygen, and power.

Greenhouse and power

Regardless of the approach, the base will need a greenhouse. This requires a hydroponics setup or an archean tree, an airtight environment with heaters and vacuum removal, as well as enough power to sustain the colony. Having some amount of temperature/vacuum resistance on pawns at all times (instead of relying solely on the room) is recommended for when meteorites or raider drop pods break the roof of your base.

• Setting on an orbital platform makes this easy, as the life support systems provide everything but the actual hydroponics basins.
• In a gravship, a setup consisting of hydroponics -> biofuel refinery -> chemfuel powered generator provides more energy than it consumes. See the Chemfuel powered generator article for more details.
• If on an asteroid, the above hydroponics setup still works. Alternatively, archean trees can be used in place of hydroponics, saving on power and resources.

In addition, any colony can use vanometric power cells or unstable power cells for entirely free power, although the former is not easy to acquire in large numbers. Gravships can use gravcore power cells as well.

Notes

Trade is possible through orbital traders on the comms console. In addition, supplies can be obtained from the planet, then transported to space through the gravship, transport pods, or passenger shuttles. If there is a colony on the surface, a colony in space can be established without it needing to sustain itself right away.

Raids still occur in space, they will contain either humans with vacuum protective gear or mechanoids. Infestations do not naturally occur as no orbit tiles are considered overhead mountain, and deep drills do not work in orbit. Because sieges and "drop on top of you" raids do not happen raids are overall less dangerous.

Events and quests are heavily limited as most are unable to function in orbit. Notably, meteorites are particularly common, which can destroy equipment and open your base to the vacuum. However, since solar flares and blights do not happen, hydroponics farms are actually safer in orbit than on the planet.

It is possible to start the ship reactor in orbit to take advantage of the reduced raid variety. Make sure to roof in the reactor and the surrounding area once its built to protect against orbital debris.

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Biomes

Temperate

Temperate forest • Temperate swamp • Scarlands

Hot

Tropical rainforest • Tropical swamp • Arid shrubland • Desert • Extreme desert • Glowforest • Grassland • Lava field

Cold

Boreal forest • Cold bog • Tundra • Ice sheet • Sea ice • Glacial plain • Orbit

Water

Lake • Ocean

Pocket map

Underground • Labyrinth • Metal hell • Undercave • Insect lair