Kerbal Space Program Is Seven Days Away From Launch

We've known that Kerbal Space Program [official site] was moving towards its 1.0 launch since January, but there are now just seven days left until the physicsy-sandbox space sim leaves beta. Developers Squad are marking each day with short, teasing videos introducing some of the new features, and the first is below with the first glimpse of women Kerbals.

Kerbals are the brave explorers-slash-unfortunate victims of your attempts to colonise the galaxy, either screaming in terror or grinning with unknowing calm in the corner of your screen during every launch. Recent work on the game has been dedicated on giving a structure to what was once just a sandbox, through a campaign mode with set missions and limited resources. That mode made your Kerbals more precious than ever, so it's nice that Squad have finally taken the time to add a little variety.

The other coming features in 1.0 were outlined back in January, as Pip explained:

Game Over – you can actually lose your job at the Space Centre if you’re careless with your funds or your reputation. As someone who has routinely smashed Kerbals into the ground this fills me with a sense of dread and career mortality.

Engineer’s Report – a panel which warns you of acts of stupidity in your craft design like leaving the engine out.

Deep Space and Planetary Refueling – a system and parts which let you process matter from things such as asteroids in order to make helpful substances. Fuel and oxidiser are the examples given.

Once 1.0 is out, does that mean that space stops expanding ever outwards and instead begins to contract towards an inevitable big crunch? Nope - developers Squad will continue working on the game with free updates, bringing it to 1.1 and then beyond. Presumably the other video teasers will be similarly shared via the game's Twitter account, if you're keen to see what being sacked looks like.