Science & progression
Research Directives
Directives are scientific focus programs. They are not merely passive research trees: active directives influence discoveries, mission progress, and which interactive scientific review datasets enter your queue.
Solar Astronomy
Productive daytime science; creates space-weather alert events
Lunar and Planetary Science
Turns bright Moon nights into useful science instead of only a penalty
Asteroid, Comet, and NEO Tracking
Urgent timed missions, government contracts, and discovery bonuses
Exoplanet Research
Long-term project chain with high grant and prestige payout
Spectroscopy
Cross-tree upgrade that increases value of many discoveries
Deep Space and Cosmology
Late-game prestige science; consumes many clear nights for large rewards
Infrared Astronomy
Expensive, power-hungry path with strong high-value night research
Radio Astronomy
Poor-weather backup path; less lunar/weather penalty than optical science
Data Processing & AI
Global multiplier tree for data quality, scheduling, and rare discoveries
Public Outreach & Funding
Funding/reputation path; makes lunar/clear nights valuable for outreach
Directive bonuses on missions
When the active directive matches a mission’s scientific area, the mission receives a progress multiplier. Directives therefore let a specialized observatory complete aligned work more efficiently than a general-purpose site.
Directive-driven data reviews
Solar, Lunar/Planetary, Asteroid/Comet/NEO, and Exoplanet directives can schedule interactive data-review packets. The queue holds four datasets; leaving it full causes later packets to be discarded.