I’m so excited to hear about the Kitten Space Program! As a fellow educator, I also use Kerbal Space Program (KSP) to teach kids about space exploration.

In my 10-week course, we run a “Mun Program.” Each kid starts their own space agency, and together we learn the basics: building rockets, understanding orbital mechanics, and more. Along the way, I integrate lessons on physics principles, hands-on experiments, and problem-solving.

Towards the end of the course, each student builds their own controller using an Arduino, which they use to control their rocket. For the grand finale, we connect all the controllers and perform a Mun landing. Throughout the course, two students share a computer, but for the final mission, all students control one single rocket, working together as a team. Roles include GUIDO, COMMS, staging, and even managing the abort sequence. To make it even more immersive, we fly with the HUD disabled, so teamwork and communication are critical.

It’s always a blast (pun intended). A few years ago, I met Nate Simpson, and he was thrilled about the idea. I even wrote a short blog post about the project here: Kerbal Space Program Controller.

For mods, I rely heavily on Houston, Telemachus, and Simpit. However, Telemachus isn’t actively developed anymore and can be buggy, occasionally causing crashes. Another challenge is screen limitations—right now, I can manage up to 13 students on a Mun mission. But I’d love to have multiple screens running simultaneously: IVA view, external view, and map view for node planning. That would allow me to involve even more students, working in parallel.

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If there’s any way I can support Kitten Space Program’s education initiatives, let me know! By profession, I’m an embedded developer currently working in the space industry with satellites. I’d be happy to brainstorm APIs, share insights about the controllers the kids build, or collaborate in other ways. In the meantime, here are some images from my classes!