Telescope (Spaced Out)

The Telescope is a Rocketry building that, upon first construction provides access to the Starmap. It requires a Duplicant trained in Astronomy operation to reveal new Hexes up to 3 tiles away its location, whether that be on a planetoid or a rocket. Base observation time is 300s (half a cycle), which could be reduced by Science and Light.

The larger telescope from the base game has been renamed to the Enclosed Telescope, and can still be used, with additional research in the research tree. The Enclosed Telescope grants one hex of extra range over the small Telescope, at the cost of having to provide a piped oxygen feed.

Mechanics for Enclosed Space Operation

In actuality, the telescope does not require to be fully exposed to space. It can be built within an enclosed space and remains operational if there is a line of sight diagonally up from the Tile of interest (even through a window tile).

Unfortunately, the mechanics for getting this to work is still bafflingly nebulous. Generally, there must be just the tiles on which the Telescope sits on, there has to be no other tiles or buildings within a 5-tile radius, and the Telescope must have a clear line of sight to space.

Exposure to Space

Oxygen masks are a necessity for this, of course.

Exposure to space, i.e. having the Telescope within tiles exposed to space or within proximity to a breach into the void of space, generally ensures operational function, even if there are other things near it.

Fortunately, it is relatively simple to make this happen, if there is enough Diamond to make Window Tiles to protect the Duplicant from radiation exposure.

Using Telescopes in Rockets

Two telescopes inside a rocket, working unaffected by any sightline-to-space checks

Contrary to its description, when placed in rockets, the Telescope will not require any form of sky visibility, it will work in any position, including when the rocket is on the ground. This is also indicated by the sky visibility area not showing up when the building is inside a rocket.

Also, the Telescope still follows the same limitation as planetoid-based telescopes; they can only scan unexplored hexes within a three-hex range of the rocket. However, this also means that only short voyages are needed to enable the revelation of hexes at the fringes of revealed space.