Thrusters

Small Thruster
Part Information
Description	A weak propulsion engine used mainly for maneuvering.
Resources	Steel x8 Coils x3
Value	500
Hit Points	1,000
Size	1x2 meters
Mass	1,3 tonnes
Command Points	-1
Crew Speed	50%
Power Information
Power Use	0,03/sec
Power Capacity	1
Thruster Information
Thrust	400 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	0 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_small

2-Way Small Thruster
Part Information
Description	A weak, bi-directional propulsion engine used mainly for maneuvering.
Resources	Steel x12 Coils x7
Value	1000
Hit Points	1,000
Size	2x2 meters
Mass	1,61 tonnes
Command Points	-2
Crew Speed	50%
Power Information
Power Use	0,03/sec
Power Capacity	1
Thruster Information
Thrust	400 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	0 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_small_2way

3-Way Small Thruster
Part Information
Description	A weak, tri-directional propulsion engine used mainly for maneuvering.
Resources	Steel x16 Coils x11
Value	1,500
Hit Points	1,000
Size	3x2 meters
Mass	1,91 tonnes
Command Points	-3
Crew Speed	50%
Power Information
Power Use	0,03/sec
Power Capacity	1
Thruster Information
Thrust	400 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	0 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_small_3way

Standard Thruster
Part Information
Description	A standard-sized propulsion engine capable of pushing the ship with a modest amount of force. Requires a short time to achieve full thrust.
Resources	Steel x24 Coils x9
Value	1,500
Hit Points	2,000
Size	1x3 meters
Mass	2,45 tonnes
Command Points	-2
Crew Speed	50%
Power Information
Power Use	0,1/sec
Power Capacity	2
Thruster Information
Thrust	1,200 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	1 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_med

Large Thruster
Part Information
Description	A double-sized propulsion engine capable of pushing the ship with more than twice the force of a Standard Thruster. Requires a medium amount of time to achieve full thrust.
Resources	Steel x40 Hyper-Coils x10
Value	4,000
Hit Points	4,000
Size	2x3 meters
Mass	4.99 tonnes
Command Points	-4
Crew Speed	50%
Blueprint Cost	2,000
Power Information
Power Use	0,2/sec
Power Capacity	4
Thruster Information
Thrust	3,200 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	2 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_large

Huge Thruster
Part Information
Description	A huge propulsion engine capable of pushing the ship with more than twice the force of the Large Thruster. Requires a long time to achieve full thrust.
Resources	Steel x80 Hyper-Coils x20 Tri-Steel x10
Value	10,000
Hit Points	9,000
Size	3x4 meters
Mass	11,0 tonnes
Command Points	-8
Crew Speed	50%
Blueprint Cost	5,000
Required Blueprint	Large Thruster
Power Information
Power Use	0,4/sec
Power Capacity	8
Thruster Information
Thrust	8,000 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	4 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_huge

Boost Thruster
Part Information
Description	A variant of the Large Thruster that can inject raw plasma directly into its combustors for a powerful but short-lived boost. Power cannot be delivered while boosting.
Resources	Steel x56 Hyper-Coils x10 Tri-Steel x8
Value	6,000
Hit Points	6,000
Size	2x5 meters
Mass	8,88 tonnes
Command Points	-6
Crew Speed	50%
Blueprint Cost	3,000
Required Blueprint	Large Thruster
Power Information
Power Use	0,2/sec Boost ON: ** 0,6/sec (100% thrust) 0.3/sec (continuous)
Power Capacity	8
Thruster Information
Thrust	3,200 kilonewtons Boost ON: 9,600 kilonewtons
Ramp-Up Time	2 sec Boost ON: 0 sec
Technical Information
ID	thruster_boost
Sounds

Thrusters are the main source of propulsion for ships and stations in Cosmoteer (the other being Hyperdrives). Thrusters come in multiple variants; each successive variant offers more powerful thrust, higher energy requirements, and a larger physical size. In Career, more advanced variants require Blueprints to be purchased before they can be built. Additionally, an Engine Room can be used to provide a performance boost to adjacent thrusters and simplify their power delivery requirements.

Math of thrusters

Thrust in game is measured in kilonewtons (kN), where 1 kN is enough force to accelerate 1000 kg of mass (i.e., 1 tonne) at 1 meter per second per second. In other words, the Small Thruster, having 400 kN of thrust, can accelerate a ship weighing 400 tonnes at 1 meter per second every second, up to its maximum speed. In the world of Cosmoteer, narratively taking place in a soupy nebula, there is a universal drag force that acts as a speed limiter (to keep things like AI calculations simple and allow players to accurately control their ships). This drag is applicable to velocity only (aerodynamics or shape of ship don't matter). For the Steam version, this drag force is

max(speed / 75, 1)^2 * speed * 0.4

This has the functional effect of "if you double the mass of the ship, and simultaneously double the kN of thrust, the ship will have the same top speed," and has the practical effect of a speed limit around 120m/s (though see the M.R.T. section below).

Thruster ramp-up is logarithmic. This means that thrusters accelerate with maximum strength at first, and as you approach the highest speed your ship can reach, their effect gets progressively weaker until the ship stops gaining speed, having reached its top speed.

Modular Rocket Thruster (M.R.T.)

Main article: Modular Rocket Thruster

Modular Rocket Thrusters are a special thruster type, introduced in 0.26.0, where rocket extenders can be attached onto a rocket nozzle component to greatly increase thruster performance in exchange for physical space, ramp-up time, and additional power delivery requirements. They function similar in concept to how the Railgun Accelerator Module increases performance of a Railgun.

History

Cosmoteer Modern
0.26.0	M.R.T. Introduced