Technology tree

The technology tree allows the player to spend collected science points to unlock new, bigger and better parts for vehicle construction. The tree is comprised of several research nodes, each with its own science point cost and a list of parts that are made available when the node is activated. Activating a node requires spending the science point cost, and doing so makes its parts immediately available for use and, in many cases, reveals additional nodes of a higher technology level. The tree is accessible via the Research and Development Facility at Kerbal Space Center and is only available for use in Career Mode.

Use

The selected research require only one of the two prerequisites

The technology tree is displayed as a horizontal branching tree structure, with low tech research nodes on the left and higher tech nodes on the right. The root node of the technology tree, Start, is on the leftmost side of the tree and is active by default in all new Career Mode games.

By conducting missions and collecting science, the player may spend their science points on available research nodes. Only nodes that have had their dependencies activated are displayed on the technology tree. As the player activates more nodes, higher tech nodes will become available until the eighth tier of the tree is reached.

Most research nodes have dependencies upon earlier, lower technology nodes. For example, the General Rocketry node requires that the Basic Rocketry node be activated before the player may spend 20 science points to unlock its parts. Some nodes have multiple dependencies that require several nodes be activated before they become available. There are also research nodes that have multiple dependencies but only require one of them to be activated prior to becoming available.

Research nodes

Icon	Tree level	Science required	Node name	Required node(s)	Prerequisite for	Parts list
	1	0	Start	None	Basic Rocketry	Command Pod Mk1 LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine RT-10 Solid Fuel Booster FL-T200 Fuel Tank Modular Girder Segment Communotron 16 Mk16 Parachute
	2	5	Basic Rocketry	Start	General Rocketry Stability Survivability	FL-T400 Fuel Tank FL-T100 Fuel Tank Mystery Goo Containment Unit TR-18A Stack Decoupler
	3	20	General Rocketry	Basic Rocketry	Advanced Rocketry General Construction^{[Note 1]}	LV-T45 Liquid Fuel Engine Sepratron I Rockomax BACC Solid Fuel Booster
	3	18	Stability	Basic Rocketry	General Construction^{[Note 1]} Flight Control^{[Note 1]}	Aerodynamic Nose Cone AV-T1 Winglet TT-38K Radial Decoupler
	3	15	Survivability	Basic Rocketry	Flight Control^{[Note 1]} Science Tech	LV-909 Liquid Fuel Engine LT-1 Landing Struts Mk2-R Radial-Mount Parachute
	4	45	Advanced Rocketry	General Rocketry	Heavy Rocketry Fuel Systems^{[Note 1]}	Rockomax Mark 55 Radial Mount Liquid Engine FL-T800 Fuel Tank
	4	45	General Construction	General Rocketry Stability	Fuel Systems^{[Note 1]} Advanced Construction Aerodynamics^{[Note 1]}	EAS-4 Strut Connector TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancer TT-70 Radial Decoupler TVR-1180C Mk1 Stack Tri-Coupler
	4	45	Flight Control	Stability Survivability	Aerodynamics^{[Note 1]} Advanced Flight Control Electrics^{[Note 1]}	AV-R8 Winglet Mk1 Cockpit Stayputnik Mk. 1 Inline Reaction Wheel
	4	45	Science Tech	Survivability	Electrics^{[Note 1]} Space Exploration Landing	Z-100 Rechargable Battery Pack SC-9001 Science Jr. Comms DTS-M1
60x60px	5	90	Heavy Rocketry	Advanced Rocketry	Heavier Rocketry	Rockomax "Poodle" Liquid Engine Rockomax X200-16 Fuel Tank
	5	90	Fuel Systems	Advanced Rocketry General Construction	Heavier Rocketry Specialized Control	Rockomax 48-7S Stratus-V Roundified Monopropellant Tank FL-R25 RCS Fuel Tank FTX-2 External Fuel Duct RV-105 RCS Thruster Block
60x60px	5	90	Advanced Construction	General Construction	Specialized Control Specialized Construction	Rockomax X200-8 Fuel Tank Structural Fuselage Rockomax Brand Decoupler Rockomax Brand Adapter Rockomax Brand Adapter 02 Hydraulic Detachment Manifold
	5	90	Aerodynamics	General Construction Flight Control	Supersonic Flight	Standard Control Surface Tail Connector Small Control Surface Swept Wings Tail Fin Basic Jet Engine Mk1 Fuselage - Jet Fuel XM-G50 Radial Air Intake
	5	90	Advanced Flight Control	Flight Control	High Altitude Flight Precision Engineering^{[Note 1]}	Delta-Deluxe Winglet Inline Advanced Stabilizer Mk2 Cockpit Probodobodyne OKTO
	5	90	Electrics	Flight Control Science Tech	Precision Engineering^{[Note 1]} Advanced Electrics Advanced Exploration^{[Note 1]}	Z-200 Rechargable Battery Bank OX-STAT Photovoltaic Panels Illuminator Mk1 Illuminator Mk2
	5	90	Space Exploration	Science Tech	Advanced Exploration^{[Note 1]}	Pegasus I Mobility Enhancer 2HOT Thermometer
	5	90	Landing	Science Tech	Advanced Landing	LT-5 Micro Landing Strut Small Gear Bay
	6	160	Heavier Rocketry	Heavy Rocketry Fuel Systems	Very Heavy Rocketry^{[Note 1]} Nuclear Propulsion^{[Note 1]}	Rockomax "Skipper" Liquid Engine Rockomax X200-32 Fuel Tank
	6	160	Specialized Control	Fuel Systems Advanced Construction	Nuclear Propulsion^{[Note 1]} Large Control	Advanced S.A.S Module, Large Mk1 Lander Can Mk1-2 Command Pod Stratus-V Cylindrified Monopropellant Tank Place-Anywhere 7 Linear RCS Port Mk16-XL Parachute
	6	160	Specialized Construction	Advanced Construction	Advanced MetalWorks	PPD-10 Hitchhiker Storage Container FL-A5 Adapter FL-A10 Adapter Modular Girder Adapter Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port Clamp-O-Tron Docking Port TVR-200 Stack Bi-Coupler
	6	160	Supersonic Flight	???	Advanced Aerodynamics High Altitude Flight^{[Note 1]}	Delta Wing Mk2 Fuselage Mk2 to size 1 Adapter Engine Nacelle Radial Engine Body Circular Intake
	6	160	Precision Engineering	Advanced Flight Control Electrics	Unmanned Tech Ion Propulsion^{[Note 1]}	LV-1 Liquid Fuel Engine LV-1R Liquid Fuel Engine Rockomax 24-77 Oscar-B Fuel Tank FL-R10 RCS Fuel Tank ROUND-8 Toroidal Fuel Tank TR-2V Stack Decoupler
	6	160	Advanced Electrics	Electrics	Ion Propulsion^{[Note 1]} Large Electrics Electronics	Z-400 Rechargable Battery SP-W 2x3 Photovoltaic Panels SP-L 1x6 Photovoltaic Panels OX-4W 2x3 Photovoltaic Panels OX-4L 1x6 Photovoltaic Panels
	6	160	Advanced Exploration	Electrics Space Exploration	Field Science^{[Note 1]}	PresMat Barometer Telus Mobility Enhancer Telus-LV Bay Mobility Enhancer
	6	160	Advanced Landing	Landing	Field Science^{[Note 1]}	LT-2 Landing Strut Mk25 Parachute
	7	300	Nuclear Propulsion	Heavier Rocketry Specialized Control	N/A	LV-N Atomic Rocket Motor
	7	300	Large Control	Specialized Control	Very Heavy Rocketry^{[Note 1]} Meta-Materials^{[Note 1]}	PPD-12 Cupola Module Mk2 Lander-can FL-R1 RCS Fuel Tank
	7	300	Advanced MetalWorks	Specialized Construction	Meta-Materials^{[Note 1]} Composites Heavy Aerodynamics^{[Note 1]}	Modular Girder Segment XL Clamp-O-Tron Jr. BZ-52 Radial Attachment Point TVR-2160C Mk2 Stack Quad-Coupler TR-18D Stack Separator TR-XL Stack Separator TR-2C Stack Separator
	7	300	Advanced Aerodynamics	???	Heavy Aerodynamics^{[Note 1]} Hypersonic Flight^{[Note 1]}	NCS Adapter Standard NC Wing Connector Structural Pylon Structural Wing
	7	300	High Altitude Flight	???	Hypersonic Flight^{[Note 1]}	TurboJet Engine Small Hardpoint Ram Air Intake
	7	300	Unmanned Tech	Precision Engineering	Advanced Unmanned Tech Large Probes^{[Note 1]}	Probodobodyne HECS Probodobodyne OKTO2
	7	300	Ion Propulsion	Precision Engineering Advanced Electrics	N/A	PB-ION Electric Propulsion System PB-X150 Xenon Container PB-X50R Xenon Container
	7	300	Large Electrics	Advanced Electrics	Large Probes^{[Note 1]} Specialized Electrics^{[Note 1]}	Z-1k Rechargable Battery Bank Gigantor XL Solar Array
	7	300	Electronics	Advanced Electrics	Specialized Electrics^{[Note 1]} Advanced Science Tech^{[Note 1]}	Communotron 88-88 Double-C Seismic Accelerometer
	7	300	Field Science	Advanced Exploration Advanced Landing	Advanced Science Tech^{[Note 1]} Advanced Motors	EAS-1 External Command Seat Probodobodyne RoveMate RoveMax Model M1 RoveMax Model S2
	8	550	Very Heavy Rocketry	Heavier Rocketry Large Control	N/A	Rockomax "Mainsail" Liquid Engine Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank
	8	550	Meta-Materials	Large Control Advanced MetalWorks	N/A	TVR-200L Stack Bi-Adapter TVR-400L Stack Quad-Adapter TVR-300L Stack Tri-Adapter Rockomax HubMax Multi-Point Connector Clamp-O-Tron Sr. Docking Port Inline Clamp-O-Tron
	8	550	Composites	Advanced MetalWorks	N/A	M-Beam 650 I-Beam M-Beam 200 I-Beam M-Beam 200 I-Beam Pocket Edition The Not-Rockomax Micronode M-1x1 Structural Panel M-2x2 Structural Panel Cubic Octagonal Strut Octagonal Strut
	8	550	Heavy Aerodynamics	???	N/A	Protective Rocket Nose Mk7 Mk3 Cockpit Mk3 Fuselage Mk3 to Mk2 Adapter
	8	550	Hypersonic Flight	???	N/A	Advanced Canard Standard Canard Toroidal Aerospike Rocket
	8	550	Advanced Unmanned Tech	Unmanned Tech	N/A	Probodobodyne QBE RC-001S Remote Guidance Unit
	8	550	Large Probes	Large Electrics	N/A	RC-L01 Remote Guidance Unit
	8	550	Specialized Electrics	Large Electrics Electronics	N/A	Z-4K Rechargable Battery Bank PB-NUK Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
	8	550	Advanced Science Tech	Electronics Field Science	N/A	Sensor Array Computing Nose Cone GRAVMAX Negative Gravioli Detector
	8	550	Advanced Motors	Field Science	N/A	RoveMax Model XL3 TR-2L Ruggedized Vehicular Wheel