Ad Astra mod for Minecraft: What you need to know

Minecraft's Ad Astra mod answers the question: What if players left their adventures on Earth behind and charted a path to the stars? With this modification, players can use newly introduced technological additions along with other new blocks and items to shuttle into the stars to explore strange new worlds and make their mark beyond the confines of their home planet.

There's quite a bit to unpack with the Ad Astra mod for Minecraft, so it's worth taking a look at the essentials of the mod, how it operates, and how to install it for Java Edition (unfortunately, it isn't available on Bedrock Edition as an add-on at the moment).

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How to install the Ad Astra mod for Minecraft

Ad Astra is available for the three major Minecraft mod loaders (Image via Terrarium/Modrinth)

Ad Astra, as a Java Edition mod, can be installed using a mod loader. Specifically, the three marquee mod loaders including Forge, NeoForge, and Fabric, are all capable of running the mod, and the mod itself is compatible with Minecraft version 1.20.4, 1.20 - 1.20.1, 1.19.2 - 1.19.4, and 1.18.2 at the moment.

If you're curious about how to install the mod, you can check out the steps below. Fabric will be used for the example steps, but Forge and NeoForge are installed in a very similar fashion:

1. Open your web browser and head to https://fabricmc.net/use/installer/ and click the button for either the Windows installer or the universal .jar in case you're enjoying the game on MacOS or Linux.
2. Run the installation package or universal .jar. Select a version of Fabric that matches a version of Minecraft that Ad Astra is compatible with (the versions are listed above), then ensure the "Create Profile" checkbox is checked and press Install. You'll be notified when Fabric has been installed.
3. Next up, head to https://modrinth.com/mod/ad-astra and click the download button, then select the version of the mod that matches your Fabric version. You should receive a .jar file.
4. Next, head to https://modrinth.com/mod/resourceful-lib and download Resourceful Lib and download the version that matches your Fabric version.
5. Do the same for Resourceful Config at the URL https://modrinth.com/mod/resourceful-config.
6. Head to https://modrinth.com/mod/fabric-api and download the Fabric API for your matching version of Fabric.
7. Jump to the URL https://modrinth.com/mod/patchouli and download the version that matches Fabric. This mod will add your in-game guidebook, so it's heavily recommended.
8. Lastly, head to https://modrinth.com/mod/botarium and download a Botarium version that matches your Fabric version.
9. Open your Minecraft Launcher client and select Java Edition, then the Installations tab above the splash art. To the right of the Fabric profile listing, click the folder icon to open your Minecraft directory, where you should find a folder labeled "mods" (if not, create it).
10. Place the files you downloaded in Steps 3-8 in the mods folder. You should now be able to run the Fabric profile from your launcher. Ad Astra and its dependencies should load on startup.

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Getting started and playing the Ad Astra mod for Minecraft

The Astrodux will be crucial for your Minecraft journey into the stars (Image via Terrarium/Mojang)

As you enter your world in the Ad Astra mod, it's imperative to begin by constructing the Astrodux using a book, four iron ingots, and four pieces of blue dye in a crafting table. The Astrodux is your in-game guidebook for everything about Ad Astra, and if you want to explore the stars, you'll be reading it quite a bit. From there, there are a few things you should do to get started:

• Combining six iron ingots and two pistons in a crafting table to create a compressor, which will be used to create plates that are a core component of your eventual rocket and many other items/blocks.
• Venturing into the ocean and finding natural oil wells, as this will be the core fuel for your rocket launches after being refined with a refinery block, which is created by combining six steel plates, two buckets, and a furnace in a crafting table.
• Combining six iron ingots, a furnace, and two blocks of coal in a crafting table to create a coal generator to start out powering your machines.
• Combining six iron plates, two redstone dust, and a blast furnace to create an Etrionic Blast Furnace, which will be crucial in the creation of alloys for your rocket and its delivery system. The alloys include steel, which will be incredibly important as an all-around resource.
• Constructing a NASA Workbench by combining two iron rods, two redstone torches, a crafting table, three steel plates, and a steel block. This block will be absolutely vital, as it allows you to construct the various cones, fins, and other components of your eventual Minecraft rocket.

All things considered, as long as you're paying close attention to the Astrodux, you should be well on your way to not only constructing your first rocket in Minecraft but also creating habitable environments in space stations and even on the surface of the moon and Mars. There's a lot that goes into Ad Astra compared to many mods, but with the Astrodux, the process of reaching space isn't too tough.