Artemis II, the first manned mission to the moon since the early 1970s, has successfully completed a lunar flyby, giving the entire world the thrill of space exploration again after over 50 years. Given the worldwide excitement generated by NASA’s ten-day flight, it’s no surprise that more earth-bound gamers have turned to the next best thing: Kerbal Space Program.
First released in 2015, Kerbal Space Program has recently enjoyed a massive resurgence in player count following the launch of Artemis II on April 1, 2026.
Artemis II brings fans back to the planet Kerbin
Four astronauts are aboard the Orion spacecraft—commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen—on a mission to test the Orion and pave the way for future missions to the moon. With their historic flight still in the making, inspired fans have taken to their own missions in Kerbal Space Program.
According to Steam Charts, KSP has rocketed up in player count with a peak of nearly 12,000 in the last 30 days. For reference, from Sept. 2025 to Jan. 2026, the game usually garnered somewhere between 3,500 to 4,000 player peaks in each respective month. Since no other news surrounding the game has come out recently, it makes sense to credit the heightened interest in spaceflight brought on by the Artemis II mission to this spike in activity.
What is Kerbal Space Program?
Kerbal Space Program has long since been the best space flight simulator on the market, despite a sequel releasing in early access in 2023, which unfortunately never reached the level of success as the first game. Praised by both gaming and scientific communities, what sets Kerbal Space Program apart is its (mostly) realistic physics, which players must utilize in their effort to build up the space program on Kerbin, the home planet of the Kerbals.
The goal of Kerbal Space Program is to successfully launch the titular Kerbals beyond their planet, with missions as seemingly simple as escaping the planet’s atmosphere and reaching high altitudes to mining asteroids and landing on the moons of neighboring planets. Given the realistic physics, these tasks can be incredibly difficult, which is exactly why the game can be so satisfying for those willing to put the time in.
It’s incredibly charming to see KSP regain an audience due to the Artemis II mission (though Project Hail Mary, a recent space-faring adventure with Ryan Gosling may have also had an effect), as intrigue over space travel grows and new generations of fans become more interested in STEM.
Though it’s incredibly unlikely any further sequels to Kerbal Space Program will come after the failure of KSP 2, perhaps the renewed interest in space exploration will inspire another development team to create more space program-themed titles.
