In the original Sid Meier’s Civilization, there were three ways to win: defeat rival civilizations by capturing their cities, survive until time ran out, or build a spaceship and reach Alpha Centauri.

Civilization VI has five ways to win. And one of the most fun—a spacefaring victory—is a bit more modest: launch a satellite, land a person on the moon, and be the first to establish a Mars colony.

A scientific victory is no cakewalk, however, especially on harder difficulty settings. Here’s a sure-fire path to advance the human condition—and your standing in the game.

From the start, you’ll want a civilization that gives you a scientific leg up. For example, the Aztecs can build campuses quickly using a unique builder bonus.

Similarly, educational and industrial zones are crucial for generating science income. (Place them near mountains, rain forests, and similar geographic areas for adjacency bonuses.) These zones also help you earn points toward unlocking Great Scientists like Albert Einstein and Carl Sagan. If those guys can’t help you get to space, who can?

Ramping up your science infrastructure means fewer resources to devote to creating Wonders—another goal—but one or two of these unique locations can reap huge benefits. Build Oxford University next to a campus with a university and you’re looking at a 20 percent science boost in that city, three Great Scientist points per turn, and a couple of random free technologies.

As you head into the modern era and beyond (dispatching the odd spy to steal your opponents’ tech and sabotage their production), maintaining your military is key. It’s difficult to research rocketry while another civilization is pounding your academic centers with bombers.

Fortunately, a by-product of following the path of science is having the technology to build tools of destruction. Keeping artillery in your cities is a strong deterrent against attacks, and many civics that streamline your society’s economy have useful defensive perks—such as letting you combine military units to form powerful mini-armies.

Of course, if you’re in the atomic era, a well-placed nuke or two can really disrupt an opponent’s space race progress.

Once you’ve acquired—through research—the technologies you need to begin construction on the Mars ship, shift the focus of your cities from science to production: Redirect your population’s efforts, raze forests to boost output, and do whatever it takes to get that ship on the launchpad before your enemies achieve their own victories.

But be smart about the distribution of production. Instead of having a single spaceport in one city producing the parts you need, build two or three spaceports, spread among multiple cities, each working on one component.