Space Exploration

In the near future, nanofacturing techniques will allow incredible new materials to be built atom by atom. But they can only be built in the zero-gravity and high-vacuum conditions in space. Various private and government enterprises race to establish a buckytube mechanosynthesis factory on a suitable carbonaceous asteroid. To do so, they accumulate tanks of water in orbiting fuel depots, to be used as rocket propellant. Also needed are remote-controlled robonauts to do the grunt work.

The key to success is water in LEO (low Earth orbit). At first, water will be expensively upported out of the deep gravity well of Earth. But for a third the fuel and energy, water can be supplied from Luna, the moons of Mars, or other nearby hydrated objects. Extracting resources at the work site is called In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Whoever develops ISRU technology able to glean water from space rather than Earth will gain the strategic high ground to make money through exoglobalization.

Now in its second edition. The second edition expansion (aka High Frontier Colonization) is now available for preorders with an expected publication in the summer of 2013. (this expansion is compatible with the 1st and 2nd editions).

From the publisher, Playroom Entertainment:

In Space Shuffle, form Solar Systems and collect points in a game that is truly out of this world! As you place the planets in their correct galactic order, you will gain points depending on the planet's color and the other colors within that Solar System. But keep your eye towards the sky, as other players will also score points if they are the Space Commander of that certain color. Be the player that has the most points after 5 Solar Systems have been completed and you will get to take a walk on the moon while your opponents are left star-gazing!

In Star Trek [Deck Building Game]: The Next Generation, players take on the role of Captain of a salvaged Starship. They will search for new allies such as Picard, Data, and other famous Characters. They will Explore space to complete Missions, Encounter Events, and meet Starships that could be friend or foe.

The game features three separate scenarios of play:

Explorations [Free For All]: Explore Space to complete Missions, Encounter Events, and Engage Starships.
Borg Invasion [Cooperative]: The Borg have come to Assimilate you and everything you know. Band together with your fellow Captains to defend your world and fend off the Borg.
Klingon Civil War [Teams]: A rift in power has been created in the Klingon Empire. Form an alliance, gather support, and defeat your enemies to obtain control of the Empire.

The goal of each game varies. While some simply require a point threshold, another game's goal might be to simply survive.

Integrates with:

Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Next Generation - The Next Phase
Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Original Series

Game description from the publisher:

Cosmic Alliance, the third expansion set for the Fantasy Flight Games version of Cosmic Encounter, brings 20 alien races, both original and classic, exploding onto your tabletop. Players will now stand petrified by the hideous Gorgon, be baffled by the puzzle of the Schizoid, and feel obsolete before the bionics of the Cyborg.

Cosmic Alliance also makes the Cosmos even bigger, adding another player (white) as well as rules for large eight-player games (if you own all three expansions). Finally, Cosmic Alliance introduces a new variant – team rules, which allow steadfast allies to dominate the Cosmos together!

This optional Team Cosmic variant places players in randomly determined teams of two, in which they'll attempt to conquer the Cosmos cooperatively. Without discussing their race selection in advance, partners sit opposite each other at the table, where they can occasionally offer a helping hand; whenever a player gains a new foreign colony, he can choose to instead gift that colony to his partner.

Space Empires is a game in the finest tradition of 4X space games - eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. Each player builds up a space empire and uses it to conquer the other players. Exploration on the mounted map is simple for players (and dangerous for their ships), revealing different space terrain that affects movement and combat.
Space Empires was developed to keep a rich theme without overcomplicated rules. The game includes carriers and fighters, mines, cloaking, a very large technology tree, fifteen ship classes, merchant shipping, colonization, mining, terraforming, bases, shipyards, black holes, warp points, and non-player aliens. Yet the rules are short and intuitive: The basic rules are 8 pages long and increase to 11 pages in length when the advanced rules are included.