Capturing planets is probably the easiest and best way to move up the ranks when you first start out on Darkspace. To do this, you must transport infantry to a neutral or enemy planet, unload the infantry, and wait for them to take the planet. To reduce an exploit where planets could be quickly captured back and forth between 2 factions, planets can only be captured every minute of the game. The process of capturing planets is very simple. Follow these easy steps to capturing your first planet, and to total Darkspace domination:

1. Choose a Transport
Planets can only be captured when infantry are loaded onto a neutral or enemy planet. The main ship that is used for the transport of infantry is the Transport Ship, but larger ships such as the cruiser and dreadnaught class can also carry infantry, but to a limited amount. Each transport has 10 spots available for cargo, and thus can carry 10 infantry units, making it the best ship for capturing planets. So before you go off capturing any planets, first choose a Transport class ship from the jump gate. You will come out of the gate automatically with 2 infantry units on board.

UGTO Transport	ICC Transport

2. Target a Planet
Next, you want to find a planet to capture. In the beginning stages of the game, you want to capture as many planets as possible so your engineers can start building planetary structures. So here, it doesn't make a different which planet you take. During the later stages of the game, you'll want to start taking "flagged" planets. These "flagged" planets are the games objectives, and once all of them are controlled, you will win the scenario. These flag planets are only found on scenario games/servers.

3. Orbit the Target Planet
After you've decided which planet to take, jump to that planet, but make sure nothing is in your way. Once you've completed your jump, you will need to orbit the planet so you can unload your infantry to the planets surface. Do this by first selecting the planet, then hitting "O" to orbit. Once you're in orbit, you can unload your infantry units onto the surface.

4. Unload Your Troops
Now that you're orbiting, you want to unload your troops so that can take over the planet. To do this, simply select an open spot on the planet, and hit "U" to unload 1 infantry unit to that spot. Only 1 infantry unit can occupy a single spot at a time, so if you want to unload another infantry unit, you must select another spot on the planet and repeat the process.

5. Wait and See
At this point, all you can do is wait and see if the planet is going to be captured by your infantry units. If the planet has no infantry units of its own, then you will probably capture that planet. However, if the planet does have infantry units, all the infantry units on the planet (hostile and friendly) will automatically move towards each other, and engage in combat. The infantrys rank and damage will determine who wins the engagements on the surface of the planet.

Tutorial Part 5: Planets < Tutorial Part 6: Capturing Planets > Tutorial Part 7: Building Guide