How many planets are in Approximately Up?
Fifteen unique planets per the official Steam store page.
Approximately Up Planets
Approximately Up planets wiki: fifteen worlds, gravity and atmosphere, Planet Station unlocks, and ship design notes without fake stats. Verified August 2026.
Fifteen worlds and Planet Station unlocks.
~9 min read
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At A Glance
This Approximately Up planets page separates the confirmed build → wire → fly → land loop from details that still need a current-build check. Approximately Up starts on Earth. Build modular ships in the garage, route Power and Data cables, fly first-person from inside your craft, land on Planet Stations to unlock permanent launch points, and complete delivery missions to unlock new components. Solo or up to four-player co-op on Steam. Use it as a garage-side reference, not as a promise that every unlisted binding, wattage, or thruster limit matches every patch.
The practical goal is simple: make one safer ship decision at a time, keep Power and Data intact after a crash, and turn a successful landing into a permanent Planet Station unlock. When a result is uncertain, rebuild near Earth and compare notes after you recover.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Platform | Steam PC |
| Mode | Solo or up to 4-player co-op |
| Core setting | Earth start · ~15 unique planets · Planet Stations |
| Topic | Planets |
| World count | 15 unique planets (Steam store) |
| Stations | Most worlds have one or more Planet Stations |
| Unlock rule | First landing permanently unlocks the station as garage / mission launch |
| Named examples | Earth · Moon · Aundara · Outcast · Tenebra (achievement-linked) |
| Source boundary | Steam listing and current player-observed guidance; unconfirmed details are marked TBA |
How do Approximately Up planets and Planet Stations work?
Progress is a network of permanent Planet Stations, not a single map marker. You start on Earth, land elsewhere to unlock that world’s garage and mission launch point, then rebuild ships that can survive the next environment’s gravity, atmosphere, temperature, and distance.
The reliable foundation is the same whether you fly solo or with a crew: start on Earth, bolt modular frames and thrusters, route Power cables for energy and Data cables for control signals, then pilot first-person from the deck. A ship that looks finished but has a dead battery or a missing Data path will not fly the way you designed it. That is why planets advice should start with ports, orientation, and a recoverable garage test rather than with a supposed optimal mega-build.
- Do01Treat Earth as your first garage and prove Power, Data, and lift before long hops
- Do02Carry a thruster mix for atmosphere and vacuum — fans alone will not cover every coast
- Do03Keep Radar available for Planet Stations, packages, and approach navigation
- Do04Aim for a station landing on first arrival; sightseeing comes after the unlock sticks
- Do05Note what broke (heat, attitude, empty cells, wrong thruster type) before enlarging the hull
- Do06Plan the next hop from the new station so failed flights still leave a rebuild point
Treat the first flight as information, not a flex
A useful first flight tells you what failed: an unpowered thruster, a reversed Data port, an atmospheric thruster used in vacuum, or an RCS battery that died mid-roll. It does not automatically tell you to enlarge the hull. Pause long enough to name the failure, fix the circuit, and decide whether the next test can stay near the pad.
This avoids a common early failure: the crew launches a huge Workshop import, crashes far from Earth, and then cannot tell whether the problem was mass, wiring, or thruster type. If the current craft becomes confusing, a smaller rebuild that lands once is a successful session rather than a wasted attempt.
Use short checks that change behaviour
In co-op, say the subsystem, the symptom, and the intended fix: “RCS pitch dead, battery empty, swap cell,” is more useful than a long description. Solo players can apply the same discipline as a mental checklist. The game rewards decisions that leave you a second option when the first thruster bank fails.
With that baseline in place, the next question is not “can we fly farther?” but “what does continuing cost if the circuit fails again?”
What should I decide before hopping to another Approximately Up planet?
Planet decisions are about environment match and whether a landing permanently improves your map.
Use the table as a decision aid, not a hidden-stat calculator. Approximately Up has large modular ships and evolving community knowledge, so a precise number without an in-game check is less useful than a conservative threshold: protect a working circuit when recovery is uncertain, and test risky ideas only when you can still rebuild from a known station.
| Situation | Action | Why it is safer |
|---|---|---|
| Dense atmosphere / Earth-like lift | Prefer atmospheric thrusters for climb; keep electric or fuel for later coasts | Fans waste less when air density supports them |
| Vacuum coast between worlds | Budget electric thrust and RCS battery reserve | Atmo thrusters will not save a dead vacuum approach |
| Heat or Sun-adjacent routes | Use heat-resistant frames and avoid “straight into the Sun” sightseeing | Community flights report heat damage on careless solar approaches |
| Station is on Radar | Land once even if the craft looks unfinished | Unlocks outrank a pretty hull that never docks |
Make the irreversible choice last
Deleting a long cable run, launching with disposable batteries near empty, or committing to a Moon approach with no RCS reserve can remove options. Before doing any of those, confirm what the ship keeps if the attempt fails. If the answer is “a dead hull with no station unlock,” choose the reversible option first: rewire, test hover near the pad, or land at a closer Planet Station.
That same habit makes progress steadier. One secure station unlock can change every later rebuild; a speculative crash often repeats the same first minutes with no new parts.
Unlock parts on the next hop
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.
Which Approximately Up planets are confirmed by name?
Steam confirms fifteen unique worlds with different gravity, atmosphere, temperature, and challenges. Named destinations that appear in achievements or community routes include Earth (start), the Moon (early hop), Aundara and Outcast (safe round-trip achievement), and Tenebra (farthest known planet). Exact gravity numbers and full station coordinates stay TBA without measurement.
Avoid turning a single player report into a universal rule. A report can be valuable evidence of a wiring pattern, yet it may come from a particular unlock state, thruster mix, or patch. Record the context before copying it: which planet, which thruster types, whether Power and Data both reached the block, and whether the result was repeated after a rebuild.
Earth and Moon first
Earth is the tutorial garage. The Moon is the early destination that teaches Radar, electric coasts, and station unlocks before longer named worlds.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the broader loop: does it make launch safer, reduce wiring confusion, change the Moon approach, or simply create a new risk? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you into a larger hull before the current circuit works.
Later named goals
Aundara ↔ Outcast and Tenebra show up in Steam achievements — treat them as long-route targets after you have a station network, not as first-day sightseeing.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the broader loop: does it make launch safer, reduce wiring confusion, change the Moon approach, or simply create a new risk? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you into a larger hull before the current circuit works.
Stations over lore dumps
If a community name lacks an official environment table, keep the claim narrow: “reachable after X unlock state” beats invented atmosphere percentages.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the broader loop: does it make launch safer, reduce wiring confusion, change the Moon approach, or simply create a new risk? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you into a larger hull before the current circuit works.
How should I redesign ships for new Approximately Up planets?
Hull design is environment design. A Moon-capable craft may still fail under heavier payloads, denser air, deeper trenches, or heat. Change thruster type, battery budget, and Radar habits before you change cosmetics.
A conservative guide is especially important while the live knowledge base is still growing. The Steam description confirms the broad systems—modular frames, Power and Data cables, atmospheric and electric thrusters, Planet Stations, missions that unlock parts, and up to four-player co-op—but it does not publish a complete numerical database for every block. Tables on this site therefore distinguish a confirmed loop from TBA details instead of filling gaps with invented wattages.
Match propulsion to the leg
Atmospheric lift for dense air, electric for vacuum, RCS for attitude, fuel engines when your unlocks and mission load ask for them — verify each in flight mode.
If the observed result matters to your next flight, verify it again after a patch or compare it with a concise report in the community. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened with this thruster layout” is more useful and more durable than a broad claim about every ship.
Keep stats honest
Do not invent gravity multipliers or “required thrust” numbers. Log what worked on your craft and mark unverified wiki claims TBA.
If the observed result matters to your next flight, verify it again after a patch or compare it with a concise report in the community. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened with this thruster layout” is more useful and more durable than a broad claim about every ship.
What should I verify before trusting planets advice?
Check the current build before treating a named binding, numerical power draw, channel name, exact thruster limit, or complete part roster as settled. The official Steam page is the source for the game’s core premise and player count; the verified Discord is the best route for patch-sensitive questions. Do not use copied invite links or anonymous “full databases” as authority.
- Do01Confirm the claim is about Approximately Up, not another spaceship sandbox
- Do02Check whether the report identifies thruster type, planet, and Power/Data state
- Do03Separate a confirmed system from a proposed aesthetic or Workshop preference
- Do04Keep a garage test or nearby station landing before testing a risky claim
- Do05Use missions guide when the next decision concerns the wider build loop
- Do06Use the verified Steam listing or the verified community for details marked TBA
Approximately Up Planets FAQ
What does a Planet Station unlock do?
After the first landing, that station permanently becomes a checkpoint, garage, build location, and mission launch point.
Do I need a different ship for every planet?
Not always, but thruster mix, heat framing, battery reserve, and Radar habits must match the next environment — one Earth pad craft rarely covers every later hop.
Is every planets detail confirmed?
No. This guide labels build-specific values, full part rosters, and unverified names as TBA rather than guessing.
What should I read next?
Next: missions guide. It continues the decision from this page into the part of the loop that keeps your next flight recoverable.
Related pages
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.