Reaction Control System

The Reaction Control System(RCS) is a set of manuevering thrusters located along the Reaction Wheel of the ship, allowing the ship to perform fine maneuvers. RCS consumes propellant, heat and electricity.

RCS Thrusters

Name	Price	Thrust	Exhaust Velocity	Propellant Consumption	Power Consumption	Thermal Consumption	Operation Mode	Gimbal Angle	Gimbal Speed	Propellant	Mass
NDSTR thruster	1,250 E$	600 kN	7 km/s	85.7 kg/s	1 MW	2.1 GW	Pulsed thrust			Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	20 kg
NDVTT thruster	2,500 E$	500 kN	7 km/s	71.4 kg/s	1 MW	1.8 GW	Variable thrust			Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	30 kg
RA-K37 thruster	3,125 E$	200 kN	15 km/s	13.3 kg/s	5 MW	1.5 GW	Pulsed thrust			Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	70 kg
MA150HO thruster	4,375 E$	150 kN	30 km/s	5 kg/s	40 MW	2.3 GW	Variable thrust			Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	80 kg
RA-K44 thruster	6,250 E$	400 kN	15 km/s	26.6 kg/s	15 MW	1.5 GW	Pulsed thrust			Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	75 kg
Elon Interstellar Ion Thruster	8,000 E$	120 kN	50 km/s	2.4 kg/s	40 MW	3 GW	Variable thrust			Hydrogen plasma	90 kg
ERS-NAGHET 5020	8,500 E$	210 kN	27 km/s	7.8 kg/s	50 MW	2.8 GW	Variable thrust	20 deg	360 deg/s	Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	130 kg
MA350HO thruster	10,000 E$	350 kN	25 km/s	14 kg/s	60 MW	4.4 GW	Variable thrust			Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	120 kg
Elon Interstellar AGILE Thruster	12,000 E$	120 kN	40 km/s	3 kg/s	60 MW	2.5 GW	Variable thrust	35 deg	160 deg/s	Hydrogen plasma	120 kg
RA-K69V thruster	18,600 E$	400 kN	12 km/s	33.3 kg/s	25 MW	3.6 GW	Pulsed thrust	25 deg	540 deg/s	Oxygen-Hydrogen plasma	150 kg

All thrusters take 4 hours to repair* and 1 hour to replace.

*The number of mechanics you have hired affects repair time. See Category:Equipment for more details.

Optimal thruster selection largely depends upon one's personal playstyle. Stock thrusters are often cheap and reliable, but won't be performant. Higher thrust equipment typically comes with monetary, electrical, and heat costs, as well as being less reliable and cheap to repair. On the other hand, more efficient or reliable thrusters often sacrifice total thrust output.

Notes

- Gimballed thrusters have an increased range of motion that oftentimes allows them to provide increased effective thrust.

- Tuning can help improve the performance of RCS, especially in unwieldy ships - see Tuning guide.

- Sufficiently powerful RCS can output more thrust than a relatively weak main drive

- The RA-K69V can be overtuned to 200% of it's thrust instead of a 150% maximum like most thrusters. Note that wear increases substantially above.