Colonizing MARS with SpaceX Starship in Kerbal Space Program

Happy Winter! I'm back with another upload, very different in style from my normal content. I've wanted to do a Mars colonization video for some time, but I wanted to get Far Future Uranus out and work on a couple other things not content-related beforehand. Making this video was pretty fun, surprisingly. I expected far more terrain buggyness than I actually encountered, and the Starships were really fun to fly. Getting good Starship / Super Heavy landing catch shots was a bit tedious, but it ended up looking good in the end. I'll be back to more normal content (stuff like Far Future Uranus/Beyond Sol) next time. Also, the 1st part of this video (the part synced to Flight Hymn) is obviously inspired by ‪@NessusKSP‬ in his Far Future Saturn video, hats off to him for making some great content with it!
Disclaimer:
This video is in no way suggesting that the timeline used is realistic or possible.
Game: Kerbal Space Program 1.12.3
Mods (nonexhaustive list):
Real Solar System (obvious)
Realism Overhaul (makes things more realistic and difficult)
PRVE (RSS visuals)
RSSCanaveralHD (Makes the Cape look good)
TUFX (postprocessing, Ballisticfox's configs)
Parallax 2.0
Starship Expansion Program
Far Future Technologies (ground components)
Near Future Technologies
Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux
Planetside Exploration Technologies (colony parts)
USI Kolonization Systems (used for the large domes on the colony)
Procedural Parts
Kerbal Reusability Expansion
Booster Guidance (landing guidance)
Camera Tools (advanced camera movement)
Time Control (slowing down the game occasionally)
Music:
Flight Hymn, Ross Bugden ( / @rossbugden )
Deep Space, Michael Curran
Reunited, Geoff Knorr
Do not reupload this video on other platforms without my written consent.

[@haaarley]

I wholeheartedly believe that Starship will make it to Mars, but a floating orbital launch mount is where I draw the line. Great video 👍🏻

[@EntropianVFX]

xD so true, I was annoyed by it too but I couldn't find a way around it with the Starship ground infrastructure mod, which provides the launch mount and tower

[@VolcanoQueen]

@@EntropianVFX you could have used kerbal konstruts, really good mod

[@ThePhantomRocket]

I mean, the OLM was practically floating after IFT-1

[@black_lifluth2793]

I don't understand how this guy doesn't have more subscribers, go push the button and the blue thumb and send comment for SEO this guy deserves more than that. GG dude, it's beautiful ❤️

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[@black_lifluth2793]

It's totally normal and deserved, keep it up👍👍

[@S-T-A-R-M-A-N]

In my 6 years playing kerbal space program, I have never seen a video as beautiful as this, the perfect landing of the Super Heavy, the expanding colony and the starship in operation, if this is possible in KSP, anything is possible. you have my like and my subscription❤

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

[@TDChannelKSP]

Nicely done! It was cool to see the multi-starship burns, re-entries, and landings. Perhaps we'll see something a little like this some day...

[@EntropianVFX]

Hopefully we will, even if it's a little far-fetched! I'd love to see humanity expand beyond our home system!

[@Galaxius2117]

One year later. Starship Launch 4 was a total success! Can't wait to see what they do next! 😊

[@lsv4898]

this is possibly the best ksp video ive ever seen. the presupply ships all reentering at the same time was so fucking cool to see

[@fernandogray2811]

You are the best Kerbal space program cinematographer I’ve ever watched. I’m honestly impressed more than words can describe. Please don’t stop, I have no idea why you don’t have a million subs, but I will never stop watching you :D (Btw, what’s the graphics mod you used to get that atmosphere re-entry effect)

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you very much! That mod is Reentry Particle Effects Renewed I'm pretty sure.

[@londonspade5896]

Amazing, it's like watching a documentary

[@zh-vulkan5023]

Multiple starships reentry is quite fantastic! keep up your good work!

[@tired9398]

Beautifully done!

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you!

[@light_gladiator4047]

Good video, here before premiere even starts but I know it will be good

[@GoldenGrenadier]

You forgot the part where something goes horribly wrong. These are kerbals we're talking about.

[@muhammadrizqanilmi1301]

Well, save that for bloopers, even if the creator want to make it.

[@leriku2270]

Thank you man, your KSP videos are all amazing. Can't wait to see what you will do in KSP 2 :D

[@EvanPang-w4i]

Successful ift4! Let’s go to mars!

[@SunBum60]

Your creativity deserves a bigger award than I can afford!

[@graysoceanworld5662]

This is probably how SpaceX will colonize Mars.

[@kadenielsen210]

These videos are incredible. Well done!

[@KendurVX]

Just breathtaking! Awesome, buddy!

[@brenomoura5131]

do not give up on your dreams👍

[@Augustus087]

Very nicely done, sir =)

[@homemadecringeycontent6363]

One word. NOICE.

[@paralaxae]

nice and epic

[@_ostapchyk_]

It's so f*cking perfect...

[@thomasthemarstrain2141]

Well done!

[@-SpaceNewsNow-]

We NEED a craft file for the starship

[@benjaminrickdonaldson]

theres no craft file. just SEP.

[@solomars]

i would never land a starship so close to the domes. Dust and flames will damage everything

[@CASA-dy4vs]

Agreed but specialised coatings exist for extreme heat and dust protection

[@nymbattheeternal1279]

Beautiful video. The synchronized maneuvers, entries, and landings really caught me by surprise, how'd you do that?

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you! The synced maneuver was done by slowing down the game, engaging throttle on the craft (if you look closely, you'll see that the burns are not perfectly synced), and then activating Camera Tools to take the footage. The synced landings were done with Booster Guidance, it works with multiple craft.

[@slhumble1300]

I rlly didn’t think of this but this is gonna cost SO MUCH MONEY but I don’t understand why you need to bring so many ppl for the first time there

[@LYZ-xl5om]

What a shocking video! Did you realize it by using KRPC module or KOS module? If so, which one?

[@kyleinorbit]

Brilliant work mate! The synchronised landings and burns were awesome to see :-) Any idea which mod you used to sync the burns up so they could all go together?

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you! I did the synced Mars injection burn by slowing the game down with Time Control, engaging throttle, and then taking the camera shot. The synced landings were done with Booster Guidance, it functions with multiple craft at the same time.

[@kyleinorbit]

@@EntropianVFX I hadn't considered using time control that way - that's a really brilliant way to sync everything up! Thanks man and keep up the amazing videos :-)

[@-d65-93]

Hello, do you know how to fix RCS on Starship? It doesn't work with Real fuels mod.

[@jonlamontagne]

How many Starships did you send up in that small window to get to Mars in a timely fashion?

[@WernherVonKerman.]

you have the gridfins on the wrong way on superheavy, the pointy bits are meant to point down not up

[@squidking191]

An amazing video! Any tips on how to catch Starship and Super Heavy? Been trying for months!

[@EntropianVFX]

Just do a takeoff in reverse like I did xD

[@squidking191]

@@EntropianVFX Neat Trick lol! Looks so realisitc! Seriously one of the best KSP videos I've ever seen!

[@Hello-peoples]

It's cool what you can make Kerbal in to with just a couple of visual mods. This is cool

[@AI-he7ip]

Why You Can Launch Multiple Rockets Simultaneously

[@linecraftman3907]

2:33 and 3:33 are my favourite transitions!!! Quick question, were the arm catches legit or reversed footage :D

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you! The transition at 3:33 was inspired by Yukon09's Outro cinematic, you should go check it out. That's a great question xD, they're reversed footage. When I was trying to record it forwards, the tower kept bugging out right after I caught the vehicle, which made the shots not so good, so I decided to go with reversed footage for the ease of recording and better-looking video.

[@EntropianVFX]

Sorry for all the premiere buggyness! Something happened to the video on YT's side and it seems like it thought it was premiering the video when it wasn't, so it never showed it and now I can't premiere it again 😢. I've set it to public now, apologies for the inconvenience caused! If you'd like to discuss this video with me or other viewers, you can join the Discord server (I promise I'm not just plugging the server, I really do care about giving y'all the opportunity): discord.gg/TNB4nSCKBt

[@EntropianVFX]

@@Uniq0 Thank you!

[@NotOrionGD]

​@@EntropianVFXGreat vid!

[@家豪許-g4y]

there r some gas on MArs ; So I think to add a Parashut at the tip top of rockey; that would be more safe when Landing. By the way I think If Mars can live it will be turn to livable itself. Human's power can hardly change A Dead Planate to alive. why not do more effort to save Earth in ER，but revive Mars in morgue.

[@CASA-dy4vs]

Dude, the atmosphere of mars won’t support parachutes alone since it’s so weak.please educate yourself before attempting to make a point.

[@SpaceGrond]

I NEED to know how you got parallax 2 in RSS. Please.

[@TwoNotSoWiseMen]

yeah same XD

[@EntropianVFX]

I made my own configs.

[@SpaceGrond]

@@EntropianVFX Damn do you plan on making them public? There's been some talk of RSS configs for parallax 2 on the Linx server but nobody's really successfuly done it yet.

[@EntropianVFX]

@@SpaceGrond I don't plan on making them public, as they're still pretty buggy and work around half the time. However, I have released some basic stuff on my Discord server, which you can use to learn some of the syntax I used. I'm not sure if Linx has added stuff to the Github wiki yet, I'm not terribly active on his server.

[@bellion5746]

How do you control multiple vessels at once? As long as I know BurnTogether isn't compatible with more recent versions.. What mod is being used in this video?

[@whodoesntlikewindows5925]

yo this is so epic. Do you have your own config for the starship engines in waterfall?

[@222cubing8]

hey could you tell me how to use starship launch expansion in rss/ro

[@ready1player31]

Hi! How did you get parallax to look so good? I can't seem to see sand dunes on my version of Parallax.

[@vendigoi2.077]

I haven't found any solution to this problem, but the starship expansion mod doesn't work no matter how I install it, via ckan or with files, does anyone know the solution to this problem?

[@Bfarnsworth]

I have to know. How’d you get them to fly next to each other like that and what’s the crane system you use

[@brimmla]

How did you make the elevator? I have Kerbal Attachment System but im too stupid to figure out how you did that

[@jm0062]

What mods did you use for the ground vehicle at 7:18? Also, what was the purpose of this vehicle during the mission?

[@mbmurphy777]

How did you get such nice pinpoint landings? KAOS script?

[@EntropianVFX]

I reversed takeoff footage to make it appear like a landing. Pinpoint landings are definitely possible with Booster Guidance though - I initially tried using it to deal with the landings but getting the arms to operate effectively without the UI active wasn't possible for me.

[@Gaming360-z4j]

Where did you get the mods??

[@maslos168]

BEST

[@mega_blob1-t3q]

если не секрет не мог бы вы ты мне сказать как ты установил мод parallax потому я не могу его установить

[@fatbasterd5195]

Dude, if Elon finds out you could only send 3 people instead of 100 he'll sue you into the ground.

[@CASA-dy4vs]

Kerbals are vastly different to humans and I know this is a joke but realistically 100 humans would do the work 3 kerbals could do.

[@fredyasoge4139]

in 4:19 what mod is the cable wire?

[@kiwakatoraco8533]

Kernel attachment system

[@Mr_Snowman126]

What game version is this

[@KarusXZ]

is this herbal space program 1 or 2?

[@BosnianHeisenberg]

Its ksp1

[@KarusXZ]

​@@BosnianHeisenbergit looks so realistic how u did that

[@bluecreeper9305]

@@KarusXZ lots and lots of mods

[@CASA-dy4vs]

@@bluecreeper9305to the point just loading into a game takes longer than a no time warp trip to the mun

[@xxriellixx978yt3]

Why did u plant a nasa flag XD its space x

[@bluecreeper9305]

Nasa Astronauts, SpaceX rocket

[@CASA-dy4vs]

@@bluecreeper9305NASX

[@bradenwolf2179]

I love the synchronized maneuvers and re-entries. You make excellent videos, I look forward to the next one!

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you!

[@ccib00]

Formation reentry is a crazy idea. But it's badass. Great work!

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you! That was exactly what I was thinking when I was doing those sequences xD

[@Freak80MC]

This video brings up an interesting thing that is usually lost in the grand discussion on settling Mars with humans. That is, Starship doesn't need to just carry humans to Mars, it could also be used for more regular cargo missions to Mars. Like imagine probes being sent to Mars as regularly as we send them into Earth orbit (obviously limited by transfer window, of course)

[@jackbiddulph]

and now I can watch the unlisted video

[@EntropianVFX]

Premiere buggyness 💀

[@triniscully]

I love your videos man! Keep up the good work!

[@derfresheguy9537]

quality content as always

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you!

[@funnyprankster887]

How do you get this to work bro ive tried getting the expansion project it shows up but it never works please tell me all the steps im severely confused

[@Poxelation]

How did you make the small domes at 5:31 ? Couldnt find anything about it that looks remotely like it.

[@samathsek3199]

I don't think that make a Starship land on the center of the colony is very secure

[@MarcePito]

for me the starship just looks black all around and I think theres a lighting issue on it, got any tips?

[@TheOwenMajor]

Great video! Using Starship outside of LEO is horrible idea though. At what's going to be well over 100MT dry, it's a horrible upper/departure stage. Still don't understand the stainless steel decision, it absolutely kills the effectivity. But hey, its coming from a company which still insists it doesn't need a flame trench.

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@stefanbirlog4622]

WOW... JUST WOW!! I think I haven't seen ksp videos of this quality a while. Keep up the good work!👏 Btw is the part where you scrap the cargo starships for resources an actual concept ? Cause honestly sending this HUGE rocket to the ground like that sounds pretty crazy.

[@EntropianVFX]

Thank you! I have no idea if it's an actual concept - it's something I sort of set up on the fly, as I figured that they could be a pretty sizable source of scrap materials for a beginning colony.

[@OUAAAAAAAA]

Me: *watches the video* My brain for no reason: Kelon Kusk.

[@Ps_no_se_xd]

I hope this canal gets 1 million subs + 1 sub and like

[@FinnishSpotting]

how do you control many starships and boosters at the same time?

[@bambinazo123]

How do you control 2 spacecrafts at the same time in ksp

[@Toaster355]

Dude, I have no words... You deserve so much more for doing something so great!!! Also, how did you do such a steady formation reentry? Did you use any sort of mods or do I just suck?

[@EntropianVFX]

Thanks! What I did there was I rigged the craft such that all the Starships were a single craft riiiight up until reentry, where I used clipped decouplers (though you can see one in the reentry FX - it's really small) to detach them. Each Starship had its own instance of MechJeb running to keep them stable.

[@Toaster355]

@@EntropianVFX Oh, haha that's smart Another question; how did you make Mechzilla move and close in on Superheavy? Did you quickly switch to the launch tower and activate a KAL Controller right before Superheavy touched down?

[@EntropianVFX]

@@Toaster355 If you look closely, you'll notice that the "landing" footage is actually rigged takeoff footage, but reversed. All I did was rapidly activate everything and then takeoff, all in slow-mo, which I then reversed and sped up.

[@Toaster355]

@@EntropianVFX Ohhh sneaky, thanks Also before I go, have you tried the Hullcam VDS mod? It's great for cinematics, and it would be great for your videos.

[@EntropianVFX]

@@Toaster355 I've tried it before, but Camera Tools is able to do what it does better.

[@F-16_ACER]

Hey whats the mod for the lowering of the crew and payload so i can havea colony on the mun and duna

[@mbmurphy777]

Fantastic video.

[@flightlinex7595]

Awesome work

[@JTanSC]

(dont mind the floating launch base)

[@richy2837]

parallax 2 does work now with rss?

[@wkinne1]

Can people share ships in Kerbal?

[@MatchGuy]

SpaceX's gold of heart

[@LaBrujuladeIan]

Wtf re chido el video

[@monikaa1052]

How did you make Parallax work in RSS?

[@EntropianVFX]

custom configs

[@monikaa1052]

@@EntropianVFX Could you share? ;) Or where can i download?

[@EntropianVFX]

@@monikaa1052 The configs are private, I don't plan on releasing them.

[@LG_Aion]

@@EntropianVFX yhm

[@hellow9677]

4:02 NASA?? really?

[@CASA-dy4vs]

NASA astronaut spacex rocket