Top 52 Best Kerbal Space Program Mods [2024]

Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is a space flight classical video game established and published by Squad for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

In Kerbal Space Program, take control of the space program for the alien race known as the Kerbals.

Popular mods have received support and addition in the game by Squad. Kerbal Space Program sticks around because it is all that makes PC gaming great for the squad: choice, creativity, flexibility, and mods.

You have access to a variety of portions to accumulate fully-functional spacecraft that fly (or don’t) based on true aerodynamic and orbital physics.

Launch your Kerbal crew into orbit and beyond (while keeping them alive) to discover moons and planets in the Kerbal solar system, building bases and space ranks to expand the reach of your expedition.

Some mods add in features that make tasks cooler, while others add to or modify the celestial figures in the game and more.

Everyone will have their own preferences, and this is our list of the top 50 best Kerbal Space Program mods.

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52. Texturereplacer

One of the disadvantages Kerbal Space has had, according to many players, was the lacking texture quality and graphics.

The TextureReplacer mod is a plug-in that you can download that will replace the textures in the game. This mod also allows you to customize your Kerbals, which you can assign skin and suit textures.

You can also assign the suits based on a Kerbal’s class and experience level! The TextureReplacer pays closer attention to detail, too, adding reflections to various parts, including helmet visors.

The creator also added a feature to change the game’s bilinear texture to trilinear, which helps to improve the mipmap quality.

51. Astronomer’s Visual Pack

In addition to the graphics of the Kerbals, the game struggles with atmosphere graphics, too. The Astronomer’s Visual Pack was originally created by Astronomer, but this mod is a remake.

This graphics mod completely overhauls the original visuals and can downloaded based on the resolution you choose. You can choose between 2K, 4K, and 8K currently.

You will need up-to-date dependencies as well, including ModuleManager and TectureReplacer, for this mod to work. But it’s all worth it to see the planetary system in crisp condition.

There is also an optional download for the Astronomer’s Music Pack included on the download page!

50. Kerbal Atomics

Kerbal atomics is a part pack that allows gamers to take their rocket building and riding endeavors into the next dimension, literally.

The mod introduces 8 different nuclear-powered rockets that consume liquid hydrogen to propel rockets into space and beyond.

However, in doing so, science will restrict your endeavor to some point as you would require more fuel tanks since the consumption of liquid nitrogen is far greater than fuel.

49. Ferrum Aerospace Research Continued (Far)

FAR computes the drag from the vessel shape as a whole, resulting in a more realistic model of aerodynamic drag and body lift.

Also, FAR accounts for wing shape, Updates the aerodynamics model to one much more true to the real world.

Continuation of the original Ferram Aerospace mod. FAR can account for things like area ruling, where the vehicle’s area cross-section must vary appropriately to fly at supersonic speeds.

48. Mechjeb 2

The thing that you need to rely on when getting your space team to explore space or even build a rocket are numbers. If you ain’t got the analytical skills, you won’t cut it. Bring the analysis to the game with MechJeb 2.

The mod introduces a couple of screens that have a lot of data and analysis, which helps gamers in making a decision to dock their ships or build a building or unlock skills fast and more.

You can do a lot of things with the data provided, so get your thinking hats on and start crunching those numbers for a perfect game.

47. Realplume

Looking for a visual mod that will help improve your gaming experience? Look no further as RealPlume enhances the graphics of certain things. Well, not things but just the smoke.

The mod adds a bit of intensity to the smoke exiting the back of your rocket. It’s not a whole lot of visual change, but as we say, small things can make a huge difference.

RealPlume, originally developed for Realism Overhaul, permits great-looking plumes that display realistic behavior by expanding with lower atmospheric pressure.

RealPlume also originates with its library of sounds and will change the engine running sounds.

46. Snacks!

Snacks! provides a twist over the TAC life support mod, which can be seen as complicated. Snacks add basic life support options for gamers, allowing them to monitor and control their snack intakes, a much easier penalty system, forecasts of your resources’ longevity, and more.

The mod is simple to use as compared to its complicated counterpart. Snacks can be a great mod for those looking to survive a day longer than usual.

45. Kerbal Attachment System

Kerbal attachment system makes building more fluid and flexible by adding dynamics to it. The mod is perfect, making construction and fuelling the simplest of tasks.

Now your Kerbals can have the right skills to ensure a perfect construction and running of the ship.

Even maintenance can be improved with this mod. So, what are you looking for? Want to make your KSP life easier? Get this mod.

44. Chatterer

There are mods that ensure visual improvements, helping improve the gaming experience, and then there are mods that focus on audio improvements.

Chatterer is the latter, and it steps up the audio game by adding sounds that could help improve the immersion of the game.

You might hear the endless whispers in space, the winds blowing, the beeps and bops of the pods, and other environmental sounds. You can even hear EVA breathing if you’re into all that. Hey, we’re not judging.

43. Kerbal Engineer Redux

Kerbal Engineer Redux is a very helpful quality of life mod. Shows the TWR and delta-v of spacecraft under production in the VAB.

Tonnes of feedback and Delta-V designs you want to make getting up in the airless harrowing. Slightly.

Being capable to add entire custom segments to your HUD can have a serious influence on your situational mindfulness. This reduces the essential calculations to simple math, hence the title of the mod.

42. Kerbal Alarm Clock

The thing that makes KSP one of the most enjoyable space exploration games is that there are many things going in tandem and players have to keep a close eye on those things.

Unlike solo games, where players get to work on a single mission, KSP has several missions going on in the back.

The Kerbal alarm clock is like a project manager on your back. It will let you know when a ship reaches or docks, your next destination, and more by sending you notifications, so you don’t forget about the missions that are happening simultaneously in the back.

Make an alarm manually based on when the next SOI point is on the flight track, or set the alarm clock to repeatedly monitor the active flight path and add alarms as it notices SOI changes

41. Station Science Continued

Deals to perform station science experiments in orbit about a body will appear in career mode when you have been to that body, and you have a solution (and purchased the prototype) of the experiment and labs required.

To finish the missions, you need to recover the capsule back on Kerbin. Adds new styles of orbital laboratories and experiments that can be done in orbit.

Supercedes the original mod, station science continued mod adds several huge parts designed to be combined into a permanent space station: The Science Lab, the Zoology Bay, the Cyclotron, and the Spectrometron.

40. Outer Planets

Explore 15 new, very detailed planets and moons, all in a stock-a-like art style with outer planets. Adds four distant gas giants and several moons, based on our solar system, to the game with the least modification to the stock scheme.

The mod introduces different planets as well as other things associated with these planets, like their moons. This gives you a different landscape to view and enjoy rather than the same visuals experienced in the vanilla game.

39. BD Armory

Bd armory helps gamers with aiming their turrets using their mouse. While doing so, gamers can not only aim turrets but a vast plethora of weapons at their disposal.

The mod ensures accuracy with weapons, and gamers can also add AI to defend against these weapons. This is a whole lot of fun as the weapon options are more than enough to wreak havoc.

38. Fuel Tanks Plus

Fuel tanks plus is simply a set of fuel containers that are larger than your average fuel containers. Fuel tanks plus adds fuel tank routes to the building inventory.

If you’re afraid of running low on fuel on your space explorations, then this mod will help you reach your destination without the worry of fuel.

There are many different designs available to choose from, giving gamers the choice of pimping out their spacecraft.

37. Telemachus

Sometimes doing everything solo can feel a tad bit boring. Your day might feel gloomy after spending hours constructing what you thought might be the best rocket ever.

Why not have a couple of friends to brighten your day and plans up with Telemachus?

The mod brings a lot more screens to the game so that gamers can have control over the entire rocket and mission. Go to space today with your friends and explore the universe while socializing at the same time. How cool is that?!

36. Scatterer

Scatterer adds multiple visual improvements to KSP by improving the lighting effects seen in space, water, and other surfaces.

This creates an immersive experience for the gamer, ensuring a more visually enjoyable space exploration game.

This visual enhancement might not be a lot, but even the slightest changes can feel like a huge difference. It’s perfect with what it does.

35. Sounds of Space

Since we’re on visual improvements, why not add some audio improvement mods like the sounds of space mod. The mod adds sounds from the expedition of astronauts into space in real life into this wonderful game.

Most match their real-life counterpart. The sounds are noted by an electromagnetic sensor that alters its readings to sounds. They can only be heard while in a constant orbit or escape trajectory.

This gives you a complete immersive and a new experience like nothing before, listen to what real astronauts have to say.

34. Realism Overhaul

Realism Overhaul is a mod that makes the Kerbal Space Program act more like real life.

A group of mods that modify KSP to make it more realistic. Engines have real sizes, performance standards, and use real fuels.

Most of them have limited ignitions and suffer from ullage. Pods are as big as their real-life counterparts and weigh what they should.

This mod makes you experience the game as if it was happening in the real world. Everything feels so real so check it out.

33. Trajectories

Confused as to where you should land your spaceship? Can’t make the right decision? Let Trajectories help you plan your landings better.

The mod provides forecasts of the trajectory where your spaceship might land while it adjusts the trajectory for any atmospheric disturbance.

The best thing about the mod is that these trajectories get adjusted in real-time, meaning as you go about landing, it’ll keep on changing the forecasts displayed.

32. Hyperedit

HyperEdit is the trainer cheat mod like you have with many different games.

Gamers can do whatever they feel like doing with this mod activated. Now you can alter the planets, change how gravity works, affect speed and time, manage pressure in space, teleport, and many more.

Allows ships, asteroids, and planets to be moved directly to anywhere the system with no cost. It also allows to refill properties and destroy ships.

Become the God of your own universe, decide what goes where and reign supreme with this mod.

31. Kerbal Planetary Base Systems

Kerbal planetary base systems mod introduces a whole different variety of parts that gamers can use to design their own bases across different planets for their Kerbals to live in.

As your Kerbal population grows, you will need many different planets ready for them to move into.

The mod includes parts that can be used to support build-remote outposts on other figures.

This includes Habitats, Greenhouse, Workshop, a Cupola derivative, Command-Center, and others. It is designed to fit with the other stock parts and feel as “Kerbal” as possible.

30. Mark Iv Spaceplane System

The mark IV spaceplane system part pack brings in the old 1960s fuselage if you’re into that era and its engineering feats. The mod adds a fuselage from the 60s, which can easily fit in most spaceships.

If you’re looking for a bit of a vintage touch for your spaceship, then look no further than mark IV spaceplane system and its old fuselage.

Your friends might not like the prehistoric theme that you’re riding, but if you’re an old soul, then who cares what your friends think. Give it a go.

29. Kethane

Here is another mod, Kethane, that helps improve your gameplay. The mod adds an advanced resource structure like to stock, primarily for spacecraft to build their fuel when landed on other celestial figures.

Adds game features relating to gathering information about the environment and earning. This mod plays a part in fuel creation and earning.

28. Infernal Robotics

Looking to have a bit of robotics into the game? Look no further as infernal robotics is the mod for you. It offers great opportunities and adds a very important part of space exploration to the game: robotics.

Flexible joints and articulation allow spacecraft to hold moving parts and change during operations. A good free substitute for the breaking-ground expansion.

27. Planetshine

PlanetShine is the actual scientific term for the light refracted from a planet. The illumination of light seen, which is quite dim due to another beam of light refracting, is known as planet shine.

In order to witness this beautiful phenomenon, the mod ensures the perfect ambient lighting.

This makes the planets more real. This mod makes planets and moons to reflect their own (colored) light to your vessel. This sensation is called real-life albedo or planet shine.

26. Ksp Interstellar Extended

KSP interstellar extended is a plugin for the Kerbal Space Program that makes gamers wiser in terms of economics or finance.

The mod gives a sense of preserving whatever little resources that you have in the game and ensures that with the minimum resources, one can build the kingdom of Kerbals.

This mod is a level above the breaking ground mod as it adds more tools and more fun.

The mod ensures the perfect tech tree that is expanded and is capable of using the best tech by properly allocating resources.

So if you’ve recently studied economics and understand what scarce resources are, then you would understand what this mod aims to achieve.

25. Tac Life Support

Tac life support mod adds life-support necessities and resources limitations to manned missions.

TAC Life Support is a mod that adds food, water, oxygen, and electric charge as requirements for existence in space.

Go without maintenance for too long, and your Kerbals die a non-fiery death! With this mod, you’re always prepared for the worse.

24. Scansat

ScanSat will help you plan your missions (for example, landing near a divider between two or three biomes) and provide serious information you need to attempt a safe landing.

The mod allows satellites to build maps of the celestial bodies they are circling, including biomes and easter eggs.

You can also earn science by scanning these celestial bodies. It allows you to scan and produce various kinds of maps. It allows you to see surface details from orbit from an interactive, zoomable map.

23. The Comprehensive Kerbal Archive Network (Ckan)

CKAN or the comprehensive kerbal archive network is an absolute labor of love from and for the modding community, and you’re going to catch it beneficial.

If you’re not on Windows or want to escape the Twitch desktop, you can go with the most old-school of the crew: CKAN.

The CKAN provides strong assurance on consistency. It will never leave mods in a half-installed position.

22. Kre – Kerbal Reusability Expansion

What’s the latest hype in space exploration? Everybody will tell you about SpaceX and Elon Musk. Kerbal Reusability Expansion mod takes on the idea of what Elon Musk is accomplishing with SpaceX and brings it to the Kerbal Space Program.

The mod helps gamers reuse their rockets without having them go to waste after the first launch. This not only helps gamers save cash but also valuable resources in the endeavor to conquer space.

21. Kerbal Inventory System (Kis)

Kerbal inventory system is a mod that introduces a different mechanism allowing gamers to help them construct more efficiently.

The mod adds an inventory system and parts of different sizes to send objects and parts on.

With exceptional tools (provided by the mod), kerbals can now modify the current vessels by adding or removing parts. It’s even possible to build a whole new container from scratch!

20. Millennium Falcon

Many modders have taken it upon themselves to introduce replicas of famous things in the real-world in the game, and that takes us to our next mod, millennium falcon.

The mod brings in a model of the millennium falcon from the Star Wars franchise in the game.

The falcon is replicated exactly like how it is supposed to be in the franchise, from the head to its backend. So if you’re a fan of Star Wars and KSP, then this is the mod for you.

19. Kronal Vessel Viewer

The difficult part in playing Kerbal Space Program is landing on the planet perfectly or landing where you really want to go. Kronal vessel viewer helps in doing just that.

The mod simply copies your ship’s layout in a drawing that gamers can share with their friends. Gamers can also break apart their ship into different pieces to view, which part helped them secure a stable rocket and allowed for the completion of the missions.

The dissection is a great way to understand your rocket, its strengths, and weaknesses.

18. B9 Aerospace

The B9 aerospace pack brings in a lot of new parts that can be used to improve your rocket.

B9 Aerospace gives gamers a whole new drawing board to work on by adding new construction and rocket parts that can be added to make your own rocket that you always imagined having.

The mod is one of the maddest you will ever come across as it provides a lot of synergies with other mods. This mod can be used in tandem with other mods like the procedural wings, which allow gamers to shape their own spaceship wings.

Imagine all the things you can do using this mod with others.

17. Toolbar Continued

Toolbar continued is the mod that will improve your gaming interface experience. It adds a unified toolbar to the game.

Many other mods join in with this one to display common controls. It supercedes the original Toolbar mod.

A draggable and resizable toolbar grasps all buttons and an unlimited number of toolbars per game act. Toolbar position is kept between KSP restarts, and Toolbar will auto-clamp to screen area so that it cannot be pulled off-screen.

16. Transfer Window Planner

Wouldn’t it be great if you simply dialed in where you wanted to go, and the output is a complete map that plans your entire journey so that you don’t have to do anything?

Not only that, but the complete journey is the most efficient journey you would’ve made in your life?

Transfer Window Planner gives you all that by showing you what is efficient and what is not before you launch into the orbit on your explorations.

Ensure efficiency during your travels with this mod to save on those scarce resources that you have.

15. Ship Manifest

Ship Manifest transfers crew, Science, and Resources around from part to part within your ship or station. Ship Manifest can be used alone. There are no mod needs.

Allows kerbonauts to be transferred between different parts of a spacecraft without having to do an EVA. This mod’s features have been applied to the stock game.

14. Dmagic Orbital Science

Looking to have a bit of fun with science experiments? DMagic orbital science is the mod for you. Anything that can gather science while on the surface of a planet can assemble science while grappled to an asteroid.

Anything that can collect science from low orbit can collect science while within 2.0km of an asteroid that you are not presently grappled to. Adds several new science experiments.

13. Modular Rocket Systems

Modular rocket systems bring in a lot more parts of different sizes allowing gamers to design and build their spaceship in a way they never imagined before.

Maintain a stock-like presence and seamlessly fit into the game while following its artistic style.

Modular Rocket Systems is another great package to have for builders, as it offers additional parts in your inventory that let you fill in those smaller gaps.

12. McLaren 720S Spider

If you’re one of those people that thinks of random things out of nowhere, like having a model of a McLaren 720S Spider in KSP, then this mod is for you!

The model, McLaren 720S Spider, has all the parts of what makes McLaren what it is, a supercar with rising doors, a functional roof that is convertible when needed, and more.

The mod gives you a feel of what a McLaren feels like if you’re not rich enough to buy it in real life.

Well, we all play games to experience the fictional since we can’t have it in real life, hence many will understand the value in this mod.

11. Procedural Fairings

Before we tell you what Procedural Fairings do, you need to know what fairings are. These protect your spaceship from the heat and pressure that is found in space.

The worst thing that could happen to you in the game is having your entire spaceship ready only to find out that the fairings aren’t the right size. What do you do next?

This mod introduces many different size fairings allowing gamers to fit fairings to any sized spaceship without having to worry that it might not fit. The fairings, with this mod, will always fit.

10. Docking Port Alignment Indicator

Those that have played the game truly understand that docking can be a challenging thing. You might want to take off your rocket eagerly, but when it comes to docking, you want to take your time.

The base game’s UI doesn’t assist much with this either. You’ll generally have to make tiny modifications without any help. The Docking Port Alignment indicator makes it much cooler by providing a user interface that is easy to read and understand.

The Docking Port Alignment Indicator saves you a lot of time and hassle when it comes to docking.

With the mod in place, docking is the worry of the past. And the best thing is that it doesn’t need special parts! I will just work on all new and present vessels.

9. Distant Object Enhancement Continued

Distant object enhancement continued mod is a visual improvement mod that makes objects such as planets and spacecraft observable over large distances.

It helps to see objects more clearly, which gives them more entertainment and looks more real. From time to time, things are not a thing from a far distance, but no issue we have distant object enhancement continued to use.

8. Real Chute

Chutes progressively deploy, increasing realism and reducing deployment shock. Now you can alter the parachute system with a real chute. Overhaul of the stock parachute system with some new drag and drogue parachutes.

Parachutes deploy either according to the atmospheric thickness or altitude and will not deploy when not intended to, e.g., in the galaxy or on the pad.

7. Kerbal Exoplanets

Kerbal Exoplanets bring in different stars that gamers can explore in the vanilla game. There are a total of 3 stars, and each of them has their own revolving system, meaning exoplanets and the moon that revolves around them.

This is not a comprehensive planet pack for the Kerbal Space Program as it includes a lot more than just stars because each star has moons and many different planets. Kerbal Exoplanets is a mod that targets to add strange new worlds to the game.

It will add in some new star structures, all with exoplanets and moons orbiting them!

6. The Dunatian

This game never truly had a storyline that one gamer could follow, however, it focused a lot more on exploration when the real missions would be going on in the background.

The dunatian is a custom story mod that will add a bit of spice to the game.

The mod sees Bob, yes, another Kerbal, left on another planet by the name of Duna, and your mission is to retrieve bob in one piece.

Now bob can be clumsy, so get ready with all your gear and might as you straddle across planets to rescue this piece of alien nugget that is Bob.

5. Free Iva

Free IVA is definitely the mod that you want if you’re looking to enhance your games visuals by stepping up its graphics. The mod allows you to walk around the spaceship and explore IVA. It allows many things to transfer around inside your craft!

Open the hatch to the next portion and look through! Do crew transfers in first person and sit anywhere you want!

4. Community Tech Tree

Now you can add community mods to the game using community tech tree. Modifies the stock tech tree to accommodate community mods by adding new divisions and covering existing ones.

The Community Tech Tree is a great sample of modders working together in producing something great.

The tech tree adds a lot of different dimensions and expansions to the categories of propulsion, nodes, pods, and more.

3. Civilian Population

Here’s the first of the top 3 mods that will help you apply more advanced technologies like Netherdyne reactors, construct a Netherdyne University, and even build houses and farms for your Kerbals.

Kerbal civilian population starts you off on the way to creating your Kerbal society, a type-1 civilization.

It puts Kerbal civilians to good use by ensuring that they take care of the space exploration part while you focus on other things such as building your ships or making multi-planetary bases.

Once build, your ships, orbital, or ground station will welcome civilians that will pay rent to your organization, breed, grow their kids, get aged and die.

You will also be capable of training and recruiting civilians to become fixed Kerbonauts.

2. Kopernicus

Not all of us can sit through the entire game, and that too completes all the side accomplishments while visiting each and every planet there is to visit.

However, if you’re one of those people who have completed the entire game, then get Kopernicus.

The mod adds a lot of different planets, well, literally a new galaxy, for enthusiastic gamers to complete so that they don’t run out of challenges and the fun that comes with playing this game.

1. Throttle Controlled Avionics

Now you can enhance the altitude mechanism of a ship by handling the output of its engines and thrusters with throttle-controlled avionics.

The mod makes it cooler to land ships and construct usable VTOL spacecraft.

It helps with the simultaneous control over several vessels, real-time RCS, engine balancing, multiple engine parts, engine profiles, and full maintenance of slow engines.

These mods improve important features of the Kerbal Space Program. It improves some missing stuff in the main game. It’s fun! There’s a mod for all needs, and we’ve tried to pull together a gathering of top mods.

Some of you may just want more portions to build your skyrockets. Some of you may not really like being a literal rocket scientist and want some useful mods to make the experience cooler.

Some of you have difficulty telling the time, and so need an in-game alarm clock. If we’ve overlooked your favorite mod, let us know!

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