Space Engineers Tutorial: Antenna, Laser Antenna & Beacon (tips, testing, tutorials for survival)

In this video I take a closer look at all the antenna and broadcast options in Space Engineers including some of the ways they can be used for relays and remote controls. This will all be useful information once we start playing around with autopilot later on.
As always, don't forget to enjoy this awesome (if at times buggy) game!
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Space Engineers is used pursuant to the terms laid out in their video policy, found at www.keenswh.com/press.html
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Space Engineers

[@mikea2363]

The main thing laser antennas are useful for is for being stealthy at multiplayer. There's many times you don't want everyone in the next 40km to see you.

[@bluelightfox]

I believe laser antennas are still useful in single-player/co-op for long-distance relays (e.g. planet to space). Hostile ships/stations notice normal antennas, so setting normal antennas to a high radius greatly increases the chance of being attacked (while you're in the area, due to spawn mechanics).

[@K_R87]

2 years later and you’re still helping people solve issues! Thank you

[@Splitsie]

You're very welcome - glad it's still helpful :)

[@K_R87]

Splitsie Especially your rotor tutorial great stuff!

[@Neceros]

FYI, the laser antenna now goes out to 200km now with a recent patch.

[@Splitsie]

Yep, I really wish I'd known they were going to mess with that before I chose some of the videos I made right before the patch :P

[@vizionthing]

1 year on and the large laser now go's up to infinite

[@CrypticConsole]

@@vizionthing but it needs line of sight

[@party4lifedude]

yeah I was gonna say I thought one of the benefits of the laser antennae was having a virtually infinite range as long as there is a line of sight. I was gonna use them to set up a network from my earth base to my moon base.

[@sebione3576]

@@party4lifedude yes, that's a new feature though

[@declan2775]

Nice! I can't wait for that autopilot tutorial because everything I try to do with them results in explosions

[@Splitsie]

I'll keep my fingers crossed that my ships don't end the same way :P

[@macgabhann1108]

I use auto pilot all the time unless im trying to go some place that does not have a gps or im trying to dock in space, trying to dock in space is the only place ive had explosions with the auto pilot docking on a planet is much easier.

[@declan2775]

MacGabhann yeah it's fine as long as there's nothing in the way... mine doesn't know what collision avoidance means or it starts braking waaaay to late.

[@macgabhann1108]

i have not had a problem with collision avoidance, just make sure that collision avoidance is checked and precision is also checked and they always work great for me.

[@atakajak9202]

World "Antenna Tutorial Take 2" saved. Did the pirates find you because you left your antennas on lol?

[@lowrads3653]

On a pvp server, or just generally, laser antennae make an excellent relay between radio bubbles. This allows you to keep your overall radio footprint small. In general for anything mobile, like a drone, you'll want to be using a radio. Even if you have a laser on both sides of the drone, odds of losing connection are still rather high.

[@Splitsie]

Absolutely, gives you a nice way of being at least a little bit sneaky :)

[@rachels587]

Your a boss splitsie learned more from you than I could ever anywhere btw I'm loving the survival series keep up the great work

[@Splitsie]

Thanks Rachel, nice to hear you're enjoying the survival series. I'm having a lot of fun coming up with ideas for the designs I want to build in that

[@SpotterSky]

Hi Splitsie Thank you for the amazing videos you make. It's definitely the highest quality that I enjoy and learn a lot of stuff from :)

[@Splitsie]

Thank you!

[@BlazinNSoul]

Dang this would be great for coordinated assaults. It's even better that you don't have to relay your location. You can even probably put up a jamming signal between the two as well. 🤔 Regardless all of this is really great information. The Wiki explanation was confusing. This was explained a lot better frankly. Great tutorial once again here. :b

[@VGRstudios]

Your tutorials are beyond the definition of "Helpful". If it wasnt for this channels and tutorial series i wouldve given up on this game a 2nd time. Thanks to you its become my top 3 games. Please keep it up with any tutorials/gameplay. Love your work!

[@daveb.4383]

Helpful information thanks

[@IsmashedtoRedbone]

I had no idea about this relay system! I’m gonna use this to create a connection from earth to the moon and mine ice there for my refuelling station! Brilliant!

[@Splitsie]

Good luck, sounds like it could be a fun challenge :)

[@IsmashedtoRedbone]

Splitsie I finished the network after a month of planning, construction and extensive testing. I can finally control a Lunar buggy from an asteroid base! Best feeling ever when stuff goes right. This game is so addictive

[@machintrucGaming]

Really waiting for the next tutorials ahah

[@Splitsie]

The autopilot might be the next one, or the one after that, but it's definitely soon - didn't want to promise something that I wasn't going to deliver :)

[@samuels1123]

Beacon: Casts out a constant signal into space through walls using low power, good for emergency signals and trackers Antenna: Field of remote operation and relay cast into space through walls at high power, good for remote operated systems with some relay network between Laser Antenna: Line of sight point to point antenna sometimes through walls at variable power of infinite range but most efficient at 200km, good for stealth and long range station connections

[@macgabhann1108]

looks like your stock earth no uranium world on the workshop in in the second slot for most popular this week.

[@Splitsie]

Wow! That's pretty cool :)

[@theklaxonhive7855]

Thank you for the Beacon info! I think I looked on the Wiki but it didn't list anything or it was very poorly written, I could be wrong, and I don't remember what Wiki it was, so I never used it because I had heard it wasn't very useful, this will be very useful on my carrier project, the laser antenna, I knew much more about, and never did anything with it because it didn't seem very important seeing as I don't PVP (Being a hivemind without friends isn't fun) And the Antenna range clarified a lot for me.

[@Splitsie]

I'm glad you found it useful. A number of the different wiki articles are terribly out of date, even on the main wiki. They're often still useful in terms of rough guides but that's why I have fun making these sorts of videos - testing out how things are currently working is enjoyable for me :)

[@TheBeltline49525]

Great video! I liked it and for some reason it won't stay as a liked video, I've noticed it on afew videos. Not sure what to do. Can't wait for the next one!!

[@Splitsie]

Thanks, I'm not sure either - I get the same bug with KZbin :(

[@ronanicinatias330]

I can see laser antennas being useful as a portable drone control point. You can stay at your base and use the drone to tow the laser antenna to distant asteroids. Attaching to the drone from a secondary antenna. Super complicated but with autopilot you could then send the drone back and forth between connection points.

[@Splitsie]

They're certainly useful on small grid ships, gives you a much greater range of control so a system like you're describing would need fewer nodes. Also, complicated is what SE is about, why else do we build the weird and wonderful if not to simply see if it's possible :)

[@casualzenshien90]

Would be cool with the 200km laser antenna connection to create an Orbital relay satellites to connect to bases on other side of Planet. Would need 2x Laser Antennae on each satellite - one as a transmitter and one as a receiver I assume? :)

[@rvgametesting4600]

Maybe there has been some updates, but laser antenna now travels 200km uses 576kW. Not tested small laser anetnna yet. And also the small grid antenna now supports 50km and uses 200kW. Large antenna still does 50 km and 200 kW. Have successfully tested 56 km laser antenna link from space to earth.

[@Splitsie]

Yep, all that was updated in the patch last week. I'm looking forward to what people come up with now that the laser antenna has a useful range advantage :)

[@mleise8292]

Whenever I wonder how does one ... there is a Splitsie video

[@Splitsie]

That's the aim, glad I've managed it for you so far :)

[@mleise8292]

@@Splitsie By the way, I noticed you were turning broadcasting on and off for radio antennas without explaining the setting much. It spawned speculations on what that might do over simply turning the antenna off. From listening/stealth mode to receiving faction chat we went through a lot of ideas, but didn't arrive at a conclusion other than that it might just be obsolete in recent versions.

[@qvcybe]

they also have a few cool drone scripts to use with laser antennas XD

[@Suzuki_Hiakura]

Could you make an updated video on this please? I'd like to see if I cant use laser antennas (since range is now unlimited) to use drones on mars while I'm on earth (dont know actual planets names, just what they remind me of lol)

[@ImmortalJunior]

This is incredible! Was it patched that Laser Antennas can no longer connect through voxels? Since the range was increased you could connect to two different grids on the other side of a planet

[@archaeologistify]

Does anyone have tips on setting up laser antenna connections in multiplayer on official server? I can connect 2 grids with laser antenna just fine in singleplayer, but it refuses to work in MP.

[@janedoe4586]

does someone know where the Character / Suite range (200m) information is stored in the game files? ( it's not in the "Characters.sbc") THX

[@BinarySecond]

Are those little ships in your workshop?

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Cotati]

I play on a keen server. THere is this Orange Unknown Signal thing which pops up every now and then. And it moves itself to the opposite side of Earthlike from where I am at. It looks like I have to set up a network of antennae to the opposite side to get a drone over to capture the thing...in a PVP server.

[@macgabhann1108]

when ever i am working with Antennas and beacons I always think of HAM radio networks for some reason, which reminds me I still need to get my antenna fixed still after a tree busted it.

[@Splitsie]

Do HAM networks function in a somewhat similar manner? I've never played around with anything like that

[@macgabhann1108]

yea we even have games where we have to locate a radio that is broadcasting similar to a beacon and pinpoint its exact location and also we have a radio network set up so that my little 2m handheld that normally only broadcast a few miles can transmit and receive over the entire west coast of both Washington and Oregon or would be able to if i was not down in a hole and needed an external antenna tower that is currently broken from a tree, to get broadcast through a ton of dirt.

[@snowylynx36]

Did you get your antenna fixed?

[@avkashpanwar3847]

can an enemy grid relay antenna signals?

[@cammandercompton9541]

I have been a se fan for years and I'm a realy huge fan of yours I am In the process of getting a new computer my old one was 12 years old and couldn't run se but my question is if you used a sensor and a timer block could you use the sensor to a private the timer block to activate the laser to connect to its pair I'm was think it would help with power consumption on small sensory drones for a large ship like a sensor net my other part is do the laser antenna give of a HUD marker to other ships

[@Splitsie]

I'm honestly not sure, I suspect it's possible and quite a good idea for power saving measures

[@fredloydd3309]

So just curious auto pilot laser antennas is that a possibility at the moment I know this is a outdated video or something like earth to space satellites

[@Splitsie]

It's certainly possible but my experience is that it's risky as it's quite easy to accidentally disconnect by rolling your vehicle the wrong way

[@Nethan2000]

Do you know if there's any difference between disabling broadcasting and disabling the whole antenna?

[@dabombinablemi6188]

If you disable broadcasting, the antenna still consumes power.

[@faguolvlv]

I believe that disabling broadcast, the antenna can still recieve data without being able to send any.

[@Splitsie]

Without testing it I think you're both right, the disable broadcast has limited usefulness when you can just switch it off but I'd have to test more thoroughly to see what other effects it might have as I didn't really look into it to be honest :P

[@faguolvlv]

After testing, disabling broadcast on an antenna make it receiver only. The antenna can still get data from others where disabling it would just make it Offline. This can be very useful coupled with programmable blocks to automate one grid from another, like opening hangars, start assemblers and refineries, start your base from hibernation (still need power for the antenna and PB) or detonate warheads for example. Here's a little example I made for testing. hot-bar 2 and 3 from the ship will open and close the hangar doors from distance. So you don't need to get out, or take control of your base. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1185747172

[@Splitsie]

That is really cool, I loaded up the world to try to get my head around exactly what you did and I think I understand some of it but I know for certain that it's a really nice way to control your hangar doors without having to have a transmitting antenna on your secret base :)

[@MmeHyraelle]

Hey splitsie! Its more or less all different today! This video needs a plaster :p

[@CrossForth]

Thank the lord :D

[@Splitsie]

Glad you liked it :)

[@scroffel5910]

Say you were gonna build a rocket and shoot it up into space, and you wanted to detach a satellite antennae after you got out of the gravitational field. Which antennae would you use to connect your base on earth to your base on the moon or in space using that satellite? Would you use a laser antennae to connect the base to the satellite, and if you do so, would you be able to use another laser antennae to connect to your other base?

[@Splitsie]

Since the range of the normal antenna was increased to 50km it's a reasonable option, but the laser antenna will give you a bit more comfort zone in terms of being outside the gravity well with your satellite. You should be able to set things up like you describe without any problems, just make sure there are no obstructions between the satellite and the base :)

[@scroffel5910]

@@Splitsie Thank you for your help and your time.

[@stanpollard]

Is it possible like in the movie Alien to control the mothership to bring back a transport ship back to Earth with the antenna Great video splitsi Shared on Facebook

[@Splitsie]

Thanks stan :) You should be able to use remote control to do that fairly easily but you might need an antenna relay in low orbit/on a high mountain and in orbit so that you have the overlapping antenna range to maintain control

[@CrypticConsole]

@@Splitsie do laser antennas broadcast to beacons?

[@starwarsfan5492]

I'm trying to connect 2 stations together using laser atenas and it's not working, they say they are connected, but I see nothing on my terminal...what am I missing

[@AngelboyVR]

id love a tutorial for setting up an Antenna network, i always end up losing my remote flyer for some reason, and i dont quiet know why, im inside the boradcasting range of a a large antenna, but my drone only goes out to 200m and disconnects from me . so an indepth tut for setting up a whole network would be nice :D

[@m4ster_root]

Could be ownership issues... With 200m it sounds like it's connected to your space suit. You can't control anything past your own broadcast range of 200m. You need a relay network, and then you either need to control the drone directly from that relay or from your space suite withing 200m of the relay network. Example: Station A has an antenna with range 50.000 km (it sees/broadcast to everything within 50.000 km) Drone A has an antenna with range 1.000 km (it sees/broadcast to everything within 1.000 km) Your Suit has an antenna with range 200 m (it sees/broadcast to everything within 200 m) For bi-directional communication, antenna ranges have to overlap... This means that if your suit is 300 m away from both Station A and Drone A, you will be able to see them but you won't be able to control them. They can broadcast to you, but you can't broadcast to them. Let's say that you're 50 m away from Station A, but 900 m away from Drone A. From your space suit you can see both Station A and Drone A, but you can only control Station A. This allows you to use Station A as a relay (you have bi-directional communication). You can now remote control Station A. To control Drone A, it needs to be within 1.000 m of Station A, this will then create bi-directional communication between Station A and Drone A, and you can now control Drone A, even though it's more than 200 m away from your space suit. The most common issues are wrong ownership of antennas or non-overlapping antenna ranges. Always remember that it's not enough that one antenna have a range of 50.000 km, this only means that it can broadcast 50.000 km. Both antenna ranges needs to overlap for bi-directional communication.

[@AngelboyVR]

i got the ownership thing down, but i messed up on the suit antenna thing in my case ^^, i was standing further away than my suits 200 range. so i guess it makes sense now that i couldnt control my drone, i guess i will always have to stay withing 200 of a nearby Base Antenna now. k thx, makes sense now.

[@Splitsie]

I love that I go away for PAX and come back to find people being so helpful :) I'm glad Peter was about to help you sort out your broadcast troubles

[@AngelboyVR]

yup ^^ very helpful indeed, how was PAX btw?

[@Splitsie]

I had a great time, met some really cool people, won a processor from Intel's VR booth and made myself incredibly tempted to buy a vr headset.... oops, probably shouldn't have done that last bit, they're still crazy expensive here :P

[@benjaminrobledo5466]

Is this video's information still up to date? I also assume that the laser antenna bug is now patched...?

[@Splitsie]

Surprisingly, most of what I can remember I did in this video is still accurate, though small grid antenna now have 50km range like the large grid ones and laser antenna have infinite range but use lots of power as their range increases

[@benjaminrobledo5466]

@@Splitsie Ah. Thanks!

[@92pkg]

As far as I can tell, enemies (npc's) will be attracted to your antenna. So does this mean that if you set your antenna to have 20km range then all the enemies within this range will pick your signal and attack?

[@daveb.4383]

As far as I now from my experience in the game NPC's are attracted to power levels the more power your base or ship produces the more likely they are to attack and shutting your ship or base down when the enemy is near they may just pass you by thinking your a dead target.

[@unstopablegamingdoodidk6918]

The laser is technacly infinite but it’s limited to the power capacity/output of the ship/base. Edit: btw at longer ranges it’s kinda stingy over long distance like planet to moon etc

[@NightOwlGames]

i built a space station near earth put a beacon on it i left it to go explore came back to earth cant find my station.... any ideas? im in offline creative, do things just despawn if you not close to them?

[@daveb.4383]

Never had that issue to be honest sounds like a corrupt save in your game maybe due to a newly added mod?!

[@thehungergames51]

I wonder if you can use laser antenna to make guided warheads

[@Splitsie]

Sort of but it's not the best system as it's too easy to lose contact and control with a laser antenna - at least that's been my experience when fiddling with them recently

[@BeauWhately]

I think they have increased the range of the laser antenna recently?

[@Splitsie]

Yeah, they increased it to 200km about 5 weeks after I made this video :P

[@ReviloWedj]

Are laser antennas broken at the moment? Really want to build a base defense drone army that can defend against offline raids

[@Splitsie]

I tried a couple of things with them recently and didn't notice anything broken. For something that's running using the autopilot an antenna isn't actually necessary to make it fly and the power requirements of the laser antenna may make it a poor option anyway :/

[@ReviloWedj]

Also want to build a trap where players trigger a sensor which disconnects landing gears with small 20ish small block mini drone things with 1 gyro with override on which also have sound blocks all playing the yodeling wall mart kid. I think it would bring a smile to anyones face 😂😂 thank you for all your videos by the way, ive learned a lot from watching them

[@ramonskirastanov2794]

This sky looks so cool how you do that?

[@Splitsie]

That was actually vanilla a while back, I think there are some mods on the workshop that copy it but I've not used any so not sure if they'll still work

[@debedejoe6813]

Is their a way to hide regular antennas from other players?

[@snowylynx36]

Turn it off. laser antenna are best for that.

[@mattdaly9553]

I know you can broadcast voice via regular antenna but can you do it via laser? Yes yes I'm aware that discord and the like is vastly superior just... humor me and my dreams for pirate radio

[@Splitsie]

I honestly don't know, maybe I should toy with the voice comms in game a little bit more as it could be interesting

[@bigblockman11]

so the normal antennas is just a waste of power for the same broadcast range?

[@Splitsie]

Things changed a lot with the antenna about a month after this video, but if you've got direct line of sight then a laser antenna may be the better option. I believe the occlusion of the signal has improved a bit since this time so you may not be able to get away with what I did :/

[@AKU666]

How to unlock options Ignore Allied Broadcast and Ignore Other Broadcast?

[@Splitsie]

I'm not sure that they're still options, I'm at work but can't check. I made this video a week or two before a major overhaul of the antenna system so a fair few things changed (especially the ranges) :(

[@Batman-rl1ph]

My ship antenna is set to only 5km but my base is at 50km, however it disconnects the ship at 5km, but shouldn't that still be within the range of my base??? I don't understand why it isn't

[@Batman-rl1ph]

UPDATE: Based on the distances shown in the remote access menu, I believe that the issue is connecting to the ship via my suit rather than the base, HOWEVER my suit broadcasting is OFF and I am controlling the ship via a control seat which is part of my base

[@Batman-rl1ph]

UPDATE 2: I think I've finally thought about it hard enough to understand the issue. In order to control the ship, the ship's own broadcast signal needs to be hitting the base's antenna, it cannot just hit the area within the base's broadcast range for the base to receive the signal. The signal must overlap with the antenna itself, not just the antenna's broadcast range 🤦 I'm an idiot

[@docbaker1127]

Man I was hoping this would help me fond my lost cargo ship full of uranium I has a beacon, all on it it is a smaller ship needed it for power for my base playing on Xbox but lost it when I ran out of oxygen on way back I even put in solar panels, all so it should have power. And all endless it just deleted my ship cause my game crashed as well then too, my base gets most of its power from the sun as I live in space on a big rock XD

[@dragnus12]

Did you ensure your regular antennas were off during the laser test?

[@Splitsie]

From memory I did, but the short range back then would have eliminated them anyway. the range of antennas have changed since this video with laser being effectively unlimited range and small and large now having the same range. I don't think they changed any other behaviour though

[@naltlan7651]

i wish things could go on orbit (and spin with the planet) that would allow us to make real satellites

[@Splitsie]

It would be nice, but definitely not possible with Space Engineers and its voxels

[@trollingfreak3020]

Does anybody else have a problem with laser antennas connecting but not functioning properly when first constructed? Usually reloading the savegame fixes it but is this a common problem?

[@Splitsie]

They seem very prone to disconnecting in my recent use, can't say I've played around with them enough to notice that behaviour though

[@billybillerey3933]

Now, does the laser antenna work through glass?

[@Splitsie]

I haven't tested it but my guess would be no sadly :(

[@blueocean7363]

can u make ai with this laser antenna? i belive in a space pilot drone ai that with the laser antenna can dock patrol and attack enemys automatically... i belive could u make a test on this?

[@Splitsie]

You can make a drone that you pilot via that connection, but autopilot drones don't need any antenna connection. I've done a series of tutorials on the autopilot but had to stop making them before I completed everything I'd hoped to as I was stymied by bugs making it impossible to reliably to some more complex tasks :(

[@blueocean7363]

Splitsie ok thanks. i hope that they could fix that... = j

[@trevorpaul9623]

When does he start talking about the laser antenna?

[@Splitsie]

This is quite an old tutorial, the small grid antenna range has been increased to match the large grid since then and the laser antenna has changed behaviour a few times too. The stuff about how data is transmitted is still accurate though.

[@deleted5338]

Trevor Paul at the beginning briefly, and again at 10:30

[@jarredeagley1748]

Keen needs to give laser antennas a range buff

[@SevenSinsGER]

Jarred Eagley steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=866595917 you're welcome :)

[@gary0228]

Yep. They don't even need the consequential energy buff either

[@Splitsie]

It would probably be nice if they had a range bonus for the large grid version so that the laser antenna has more uses in single player, at least the small grid one is useful in that it outranges its regular counterpart quite considerably

[@jarredeagley1748]

Agreed.

[@SevenSinsGER]

Splitsie What ranges do you think of for small/large laser antenna?

[@-YELDAH]

A N T E N E E

[@Splitsie]

Antennae ;)

[@punschi125]

So Autopilot on Planet with an laser antenna on a Satellite

[@Splitsie]

Possible :)

[@alfredosoup]

The laser has infinite range now

[@wishyourlife6861]

Something i would kiss you for (No Homo) is a Tutorial on how to make a Ship Guard your Base and fly around. That would be awesome

[@Splitsie]

Something like that should be possible with autopilot and some turrets :)

[@macgabhann1108]

I have actually already did that, and provided you can keep it fueled and full of ammo it can work indefinitely plus there a mod that allows for wireless power transfer as well as a few laser turret mods that do not need ammo the problem I had was once I got 12 drones flying in varying different circles and in different directions around my base my sim speed drooped down to 0.03 other then that they worked great and never hit each other even though there flight paths crossed over each other in several places. still the sim speed issue made it impossible to do anything.

[@sigma_seal]

So, I could use a laser antenna relay to broadcast from an asteroid, back into a planet's atmosphere, then "convert" the signal by having a relay with laser and regular, and then use regular antenna relays to control a ship on earth? (Yes I know I'm two years late, but someone who knows how this works might still be lurking around)

[@Splitsie]

Yep that should work, just note that laser antenna power usage goes up with distance so it can be expensive to keep power running on a space based relay

[@GUMMY_MKII]

Mmh bacon

[@wolfpupgaming5922]

But large antennas=ramming speed XD

[@shado_lancer1179]

IT DOES NOT WORK FOR ME

[@Splitsie]

The caps is completely unnecessary and it's also helpful to indicate what isn't working rather than just screaming into the void

[@forestnfren8146]

Are you flabaliki?

[@Splitsie]

Nope - I have watched the occasional bit of his stuff though :P

[@forestnfren8146]

you have such a similar voice and presentation! its uncanny. I enjoy both of your channels - Flabaliki

[@danielcox3983]

All your base are belong to us.

[@Splitsie]

Every time I hear that it takes me back to the first time I was shown it when I was in high school :P

[@SgtRandom]

this is outdated now

[@adamsrealm]

Laser antennas are useless.

[@highgrounder5238]

adamsrealm Why? They arr ment to be a silent communication without that marker on hud. Yes, the range is a bit useless, but if you played the remote scenario, you will be damn happy that you have them

[@Andrew.A.]

adamsrealm What a man says about a tool he doesn't understand how to use.

[@adamsrealm]

Andrew , don't try to belittle me with "high road" crap, they are useless compared to regular antennas. They can't even reach out of a planets gravity well.

[@Andrew.A.]

adamsrealm I don't know what "high road" you're referring to. I was belittling you, yes, and to make up for that let me explain how to do exactly what you said couldn't be done. You are aware of the 20km range, and that the Earth-like planet has a gravity well which exceeds this. True, 20km is inside the gravity well, but it is well outside the atmosphere. (That is, no O2) What this means is that you can build a satellite with as many as 11 batteries & 8 solar panels, with a gyroscope and a single ion thruster in each direction and it will stay aloft indefinitely. (Even more efficiency with rotors and the light tracking script) This satellite is in what I would call "low orbit" and it can connect to a second satellite yet another 20km away, which will be outside of the gravity well, and ready to send silent communications another 20km after that. I do not mind at all staging satellites to be virtually invisible to other players, who would have to be lucky enough to spot your tiny satellites with their naked eyes. The alternative to this is using the normal "open broadcast" antennas which will give away their position from the second they go live. I've tested this myself, which is the reason for the very specific number of batteries and solar panels, but I expect you could launch a more elaborate vessel, complete with point defense. Hope this has helped. The spirit of engineering is to solve problems using the tools you have at hand, happy building.

[@mikea2363]

useless until you are at multiplayer and you want to do shit with antenas without everyone in the planet seeing it.