When to launch satellite?

[BurnedZoomer]

At what panic level do you launch a satelite. For example. USA is at 3/5 panic, do i wait till 4/5 panic to launch the satelite or do i launch it now? (I am stationed in asia)

[supertrooper225]

The best thing to do would be to wait until the end of the month. Countries usually won't back out of the project until the council report that comes at the end of the month. So wait till right before then and send them to the ones experiencing the most panic. That is a typical strategy people use.

[red255]

wait until after the second abduction. and if applicable second UFO

[Phoenix7786]

If you're strictly looking to reduce panic then yeah you can save up until the Council monthly report before deploying. If you want to gamble, you can deploy and hope you get a ufo shot down or something before the report. Personally I don't like to rely on that tactic though.

[marstinson]

Minor spoilers necessarily follow, so be warned.

It depends upon your difficulty level, your available funds and satellite capacity. At Impossible difficulty, I try to stomp on that as soon as I can. It only takes one abduction mission to turn 3/5 panic into to 5/5 panic. Because of this, I tend to build lots of satellite capacity as quickly as possible, try to keep 2-3 satellites in reserve to keep panic mangageable and focus on the continent(s) that are going to give me the perks that I need while sacrificing the others. For example, I can live without South America (Brazil and Argentina) if I have lots of labs to take up the slack. If the big money contributors are safe, then I don't worry so much about Africa or the smaller contributors elsewhere.

At Normal difficulty (and Classic to a certain extent), I tend to be a bit more laid back and not worry so much because there will almost always be a Council mission in the offing that will lower panic on a global basis, so I get to 100% coverage eventually, but don't rush it.

In short, the higher the difficulty, the more you need to worry about panic (so get on it quickly), especially in those continents that are providing your bread-and-butter perks.

[Dies Fourth]

Im not sure if the reward/panic reduction is immdeiate but it takes 2 days for a satellite to become active so not tooooooooooooo close to the end of the month.

[red255]

the reward is immediate. the coverage is not until later which gives you time to buy them, end the month then buy the birds to protect them.

[Stardustfire]

Starting Sats only near end of month, when both Adbductions have passed.
Only starting Sats when i can cover a complete continent in one go, so i dont must deal with neighbourhood panic from abductions.
Exeption to this is when a Nation has hit red5 and is still there near end of month, than i start a single sat for it, but that depends on the overall world panic situation.

I think i must mentation at that point that i start to ignore one contient that i can cover complete at the end of the same month planned with the 2 month. so i horde massive panic on one continent and save it complete at end of month with sats. works mostly if u not get a chain of bad luck (mostly Exalt panic activity that u cant respond too, this can scarsly break this planning)

It is enove thast u have startet the sat, u get the panic reduction and reward counter at once, no matter that the sat isnt in his end position.