SpaceEngine is a 3D astronomy program and game engine developed by Russian astronomer and programmer Vladimir Romanyuk. Using real astronomical catalogs and procedural generation, it creates a three dimensional planetarium representing the entire universe. Users can travel through space in any direction or speed, and forwards or backwards in time. It uses pseudo-random numbers to procedurally create any kind of planetary system, nebula or galaxy.
Best gaming PC for SpaceEngine in 2026
Full buyers guide →Below are the four PC tiers we'd actually recommend for SpaceEngine today. These are our 2026 hardware picks, not the dated publisher minimums you'll find on Steam.
Budget
1080p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 1TB NVMe SSD
Mid-tier
1440p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
High-end
1440p · 144fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
Enthusiast
4K · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
- RAM
- 64 GB
- Storage
- 4TB NVMe SSD
Official system requirements
These are the minimum and recommended specs as published by Vladimir Romanyuk on Steam. They tend to be conservative — usually "what ran the game at 1080p when it shipped". For what you should actually buy in 2026, see the tier cards above.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-3220T or AMD FX-4100 | Intel Core i5-4430 or AMD FX-8350 |
| RAM | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| GPU | GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or Radeon RX 460 (4 GB) | GeForce GTX 1060 (5/6 GB) or Radeon RX 480 (8 GB) |
| Storage | 4 GB | 50 GB |
| DirectX | — | — |
Verified 16 July 2026 against the Steam store page.
Can your PC run SpaceEngine?
If your CPU is roughly equivalent to Intel Core i5-4430 and your GPU is at or above GeForce GTX 1060 (5/6 GB), you'll hit recommended settings at 1080p/60. For 1440p or higher, see the tier picks above.