Reaction Control System

The Reaction Control System, mostly just called RCS, is a set of gas-fuelled small thrusters primarily intended for orienting vessels in vacuum. It is toggled on and off by pressing the R key (default key binding). In order to use RCS, a dedicated RCS fuel tank along with some RCS thrusters is needed. The fuel tanks for RCS are different from solid or liquid fuels tank, and currently come in two options, matching the two different radii of parts.

The thrusters can be located anywhere on a ship. Unlike Jet and Liquid Fuel Engines, there is no need to place RCS thrusters on RCS fuel tanks or manually run fuel lines to them. The thruster block can provide full rotation control, whereas the linear port can only provide thrust in one direction. It is advisable to place the thrusters as far away from your centre of mass as possible, thus maximising the torque (turning force) they generate. It is typically most practical to place them with four way symmetry as this can provide the best control. It should also be noted that Advanced SAS will make use of the thrusters. To avoid a constant drain of RCS fuel, it is recommended not to have both the RCS or the Advanced SAS turned on at the same time, unless you need to keep your ship dead level and/or have RCS fuel to spare.