The steps to designing and building a new spacecraft are:<br /><br />
<ol><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Select purpose of the ship.
Doesn't have any direct effect on the ship's statistics, cost, etc
but guides the design of the ship through the later stages</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Select astrogation systems</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Select communication and sensor
systems</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Select Weapons and Defenses</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Select Specialized equipment
(mining, cargo, etc)</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine cargo bay size</p></li><li>Select ship vehicles and bays</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine crew/passenger size</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Select crew and passenger
accommodations</p></li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine life support
requirements</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine initial computer
requirements
</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine Power requirements</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine hull type</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine hull size</p></li><li>Add any additional armor</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine ship's total mass</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Pick engine type, number and sizes</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Finalize computer requirements and
verify power requirements and size
</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Calculate final cost</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Determine ADF, DCR, etc</p>
</li></ol>