If you’ve spent dozens of hours hopping across star systems in No Man's Sky, you’ve definitely come across a hulking S-class freighter that makes your beat-up starter freighter look like a tiny shuttle. The first thought that pops into most players’ heads in that moment is can you have 2 freighters in No Man's Sky, so you don’t have to scrap all the upgrades you poured into your original ship. Freighters are the backbone of any interstellar operation, letting you store extra ships, haul thousands of units worth of cargo, and run frigate expeditions that earn you rare resources for free. The game never spells out the exact rules for freighter ownership, so it’s easy to get confused about what’s allowed and what will make you lose your hard-earned gear.
Official Rules: Can You Have 2 Freighters in No Man's Sky at Once?
In the unmodded, vanilla version of No Man's Sky, you can only have one active freighter registered to your account at any given time. When you approach a new freighter to claim it after completing the standard pirate rescue mission, the captain will give you the option to trade in your existing freighter for the new one, or pay the full price if you don’t want to trade. If you claim the new freighter without scrapping or trading your old one, your old freighter will remain docked in the system where you swapped, but it will no longer be your active ship. That means you can’t summon it to other systems the way you can with your currently registered freighter. A lot of players assume this means you can never access that old freighter again, but that’s not the case, as long as you follow a few simple steps to keep track of it.
Workarounds to Effectively Use Two Freighters in Gameplay
Even with the vanilla one-active-freighter limit, you can easily swap between two freighters whenever you want, effectively letting you use two separate freighters for different purposes. Many players keep one freighter kitted out with full storage and trade upgrades for hauling rare resources across systems, and a second freighter with max combat upgrades for taking on high-level pirate fleets and frigate expeditions. Hunting for the perfect second freighter can take hours, especially if you’re chasing a specific S-class model with high inventory slots and ideal stat bonuses. Many players take short breaks between system jumps to avoid burning out, opting for low-stakes, quick-play activities that don’t require deep focus. Many players who need a quick, low-effort break between freighter hunts enjoy playing Yono Slots, which fits perfectly into 10-minute gaps while you wait for a new system to generate or a pirate attack to trigger. Once you’re refreshed, you can jump right back into hunting for that ideal second freighter without losing your momentum.
The workaround for dual freighter use is simple, and it doesn’t require any glitches or exploits that risk breaking your save file. Follow these steps to safely swap between two freighters whenever you want:
- First, clear all non-upgrade cargo from your current active freighter to avoid losing any rare resources, crafted products, or mission items during the swap. Upgrade modules installed directly on the freighter will stay attached, so you don’t need to remove those.
- When you find a second freighter you want to add to your rotation, complete the standard freighter rescue mission by defeating the pirate fleet attacking it, then speak to the captain to initiate the purchase or trade.
- After you take ownership of the new freighter, mark the system it’s located in on your galactic map with a custom tag, so you can easily return later to swap back to your original freighter whenever you want.
Never scrap your old freighter if you plan to use it again later, because once you scrap it, all upgrades, associated storage, and frigate crews assigned to it are gone permanently. All upgrade modules installed on your freighter stay with it when you swap, so you don't have to re-install damage protection or trade upgrades every time you switch between your two freighters.
Key Risks to Avoid When Managing Multiple Freighters
While the swap workaround is reliable for most players, there are a few common mistakes that can make you lose track of your freighter or erase all your upgrades entirely. The biggest mistake players make is forgetting to mark the system where they left their inactive freighter. If you don’t add a custom map tag, you could spend hours searching hundreds of systems trying to find your old freighter, with no way to summon it to your current location. You can only summon your currently active freighter to any system you’re in, so the inactive one will only be available in the exact system you left it in after the swap.
Another common risk is running frigate missions from an inactive freighter. If you have active expeditions running when you swap to a new freighter, those missions will continue to run their full timer, but you can’t collect the rewards, cancel the mission, or send out new expeditions until you go back to that original freighter. If you run a lot of frigate missions for passive income, make sure you wrap up all active expeditions before you swap freighters to avoid missing out on rare rewards. Always swap freighters in a single-player, uncharted system if possible, because multiplayer sync bugs can sometimes make your inactive freighter despawn entirely if you swap while visiting another player’s system.
Modding Options for Permanent Dual Freighter Ownership
If you play No Man's Sky on PC and only play single-player offline modes, you can use community-made mods to unlock permanent dual freighter ownership, no swapping required. These mods edit the game’s core save data to add extra freighter ownership slots to your account, so you can register multiple freighters the same way you register multiple regular starships. With these mods installed, you can summon any of your registered freighters to any system you’re in, and switch between them in seconds without having to travel back to a specific system.
Before you install any freighter management mods, there are a few important rules to keep in mind to avoid breaking your save or getting banned. Mods only work for single-player, offline modes, and using any mod that alters core game mechanics in online multiplayer can get your account banned from Hello Games’ official servers. You should also always back up your save file before installing any mods, because major No Man's Sky content updates often break existing mods, and a broken mod can corrupt your save file if you load it without updating the mod first. Most mod creators post clear update notes on community mod pages, so check for compatibility before you load your save after a game update.
If you’ve been holding off on buying that perfect S-class freighter because you didn’t want to lose your first upgraded one, you don’t have to wait any longer. The vanilla workaround is reliable for 99% of players, and it lets you swap between two freighters whenever you need to switch up your playstyle. Just remember to mark your inactive freighter’s system, clear out your cargo before swapping, and avoid swapping in multiplayer lobbies to keep all your gear safe. At the end of the day, can you have 2 freighters in No Man's Sky? The answer is yes, as long as you follow the simple rules laid out in this guide, so you can build the interstellar fleet of your dreams without sacrificing any of your hard-earned upgrades.
