Editing Colonization for Beginners (section)

===The basics===

Almost any system body (planet, moon or asteroid; perhaps even comets?) can be colonized (gas giants are an obvious exception). In this tutorial, I'll assume you're colonizing a planet, although the process is identical for all system bodies. You don't need actual colonists to live there; a colony might consist of only a single Deep Space Tracking Station (DSTS) and serve as a listening post.

Before you can ship anything to a planet, you need to mark it as a new colony first. Right-click the planet on the map, then select "New Colony" from the populations sub-menu, or go to the System View window (F9), select a body and click "Add Colony". Your new colony will now appear in the Population window (you have to close and re-open it to see the change).

Different populations can co-exist on a planet. They could be aliens, or a genetically modified species under your control. The game treats them as two separate colonies.

Colonies can be abandoned at any time. Click the "Abandon Colony" at the bottom of the Population window. Everything you leave behind will be lost and cannot be recovered later.