libre-space

Oct 06, 2026

image


https://libre-space.zchira.workers.dev/

I made a spaceflight game where you fly robotic ships from a Linux shell (free, runs in the browser)

I've been building this in my spare time for a while and it's finally playable enough to show.

The idea: you're an operator at mission control, and the spacecraft you fly are robotic. The only way to reach them is an "ansible" link to their onboard Linux-like shell. No cockpit, no joystick - you connect to a ship and fly it with commands:

target tsiolkovsky
nav transfer tsiolkovsky
alarm ap
burn prograde 5.65
systemctl enable --now scanner
cat /data/scan-moon.txt

The physics is a real n-body simulation of the Sun, Earth and Moon, so things work the way they do in orbit: you catch up with a station by going lower, not faster; a push towards a station lifts you above it; the Moon you aim for is not where it is now, but where it will be in two days.

The ship is a set of modules that run as services (systemctl, journalctl), with files, jobs, alarms (at), and mail at mission control. The missions so far: a rendezvous with a station in low Earth orbit, a lunar survey with a probe and a mini lab, repairing a telescope at a Lagrange point, and waking up a derelict cargo tug that drifted silent for six years.

There's a terminal version and a graphical one (both running in browser); the graphical one has a beginner mode with buttons that simply type the commands for you, so you see what they do. The first mission leads you one command at a time.

It's free, with no account; your campaign is saved in the browser: https://libre-space.zchira.workers.dev/

It's still rough in places. I'd love to hear where it confuses you, especially if you know orbits but not Linux, or the other way round.

¿Te gusta esta publicación?

Comprar zchira un café

Más de zchira

PrivacidadCondicionesDenunciar