Here are the highlights of the 1.9 release of Space Agency:
- 2 new missions
- New ion drive station parts
- New Arianne 6 and PSLV rocket parts
- Draco Trunk bug fix.
Overall this is a great update: new parts, new rockets, new missions, and a key bug fixed.
New Missions
As usual, there are new missions to introduce the new parts. I really enjoyed Mission 36. In mission 36 you need to attach two parts, on of which is the new ion drive, to a test vehicle. What I really liked about this mission was that you don't have easy access to one of the docking ports that you need to attach to. The vehicle is parked so close to STA that even if you were to fit the part it, the tug would impact STA when it released the part. This added a bit of extra challenge on top of the standard launch and attach parts style mission.
Mission 37 is similar to mission 36, but it uses 4 parts and includes the new linked ion drive parts.
New Ion Drive
I am very excited for both the new ion drive parts. They are both small sized engines, which was one of the aspects that I was hoping for when the
Mighty Joe Thruster was designed. They also do not have atmosphere which was another key aspect of the Might Joe Thruster.
Having the ion engine run off of power instead of fuel is a great way to add more variety to the game play. If that weren't enough, the linkable ion drive engine allows you to fire multiple engines at the same time. This eliminates one of the major constraints to ship design in Space Agency. Because you could previously only fire one engine at a time, the engine needed to be located close to the center line of the ship to keep the thrust balanced. Linkable ion drives no longer have that constraint because they can be fired simultaneously.
New Rocket Parts
Not one but two new rockets: the Ariane 6 and PSLV. Both also include new boosters as well. Centauri has started using the Ariane 6 body with the Airaine 5 boosters as one of the go to rockets for launch.
![Araine 6](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wy-j1Oetx4M/W1Tmd2RPvHI/AAAAAAAACuM/VZtXKj9thYk06zRRHHQA3Ye1_HAG0-KggCLcBGAs/s320/Arriane6.jpg) |
Araine 6 |
![PLSV](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7jtMPkSLfk/W1TmePeEQvI/AAAAAAAACuQ/HIn5Ti6JDIAp5g4r0K-C8VA6te99M6gCwCLcBGAs/s320/PLSV.jpg) |
PSLV |
Draco Trunk Bug
Very happy to see this bug fixed. Now you can access the cargo inside of the trunk. This means that Draco can now carry a huge 11 cargo.