I figured out the problem. please delete this post. For you wondering: I needed to run Steam in administrator, and that fixed it. thanks.
First try using steams verify integrity of files option then try again. I would need the client log to check the message go to your steam installation of EGS: SteamLibrary\steamapps\Common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Logs Open the folder named by the highest number in the logs folder & right click on the client log from when this happened & place your mouse cursor over 'Send to' create a compressed copy of it then drag & drop a copy in your reply box. Thanks.
I figured out the problem. please delete this post. For you wondering: I needed to run Steam in administrator, and that fixed it. thank you for your answer