If you’ve spent any amount of time bouncing between star systems in No Man’s Sky, you’ve almost certainly stared up at a massive capital freighter or sleek S-class hauler and wondered how to add one to your collection. You don’t need to dump millions of units or grind hundreds of missions to pull this off, either. Learning how to get a big ship in No Man's Sky is far more accessible than most new players realize, with options that work for brand new travelers and endgame players alike. I’ve tested every method out there over 300+ hours of play, and I’m breaking down the most reliable ones that don’t require cheating or modding.
How to Get a Big Ship in No Man's Sky For Free: Rescue a Crashed Vessel
This is easily the best method for new players who haven’t built up a stockpile of units or reputation with the game’s alien races yet. You don’t need to spend any money, and you can start searching for crashed big ships as soon as you get your first starship and can warp between systems. All you need to get started are planetary navigation charts you can buy for a handful of nanites from any space station cartographer. Use a chart marked for “distress signals” and it will mark a crashed ship location on your current planet, or point you to a nearby system with a downed vessel.
Crashed ships spawn with random class and slot counts, so you can easily find a 40+ slot big ship within your first 10 hours of play if you know where to look. When you find a crashed ship you like, you only need to repair its launch thrusters and pulse engine to fly it back to a space station. All other broken slots can be repaired gradually as you collect resources, and you don’t lose access to your old ship when you claim the new one. The only downside to this method is you might have to search 2-3 planets to find a ship design that fits your playstyle, but that’s just an excuse to explore more cool worlds.
Claim a Capital Freighter by Defending it From Pirate Attacks
Capital freighters are the largest ships you can own in No Man’s Sky, with enough storage space to hold dozens of smaller ships, hundreds of thousands of resources, and even portable base modules you can deploy anywhere in the galaxy. It’s one of the most reliable methods if you’re looking for a big ship that can hold all your exploration gear. The process is surprisingly simple: every time you warp into a new star system, there’s a 20% chance you’ll get an immediate distress call from a freighter under attack by pirate raiders.
You need to defeat 3-5 waves of pirates before the freighter’s health bar drops to zero to qualify for the reward. Once you take down the last pirate, the freighter captain will invite you on board and offer you the ship for free the first time you complete this event. Any subsequent freighters you want to claim will cost units, but they’re still 30-50% cheaper than buying a freighter directly from a captain docked at a space station. If you don’t like the class or design of the freighter that spawns, just reload your auto-save right before you warped into the system and try again, the freighter stats will reroll completely.
Trade Up Gradually Using Ship Scraps and Stolen Vessels
If you don’t want to rely on random spawns of crashed ships or freighter attacks, you can build up to a big ship by trading smaller vessels you pick up along your journey. This method is great for players who prefer to progress at their own pace, without chasing specific events or following strict grind paths. Every time you find a crashed ship, even a tiny shuttle, you can claim it for free, fly it to the nearest space station, and scrap it for nanites, upgrade modules, and units. You can also steal ships from NPCs that land at trading posts or space stations, as long as you have a high enough standing with the system’s dominant alien race.
Each ship you scrap or sell gives you enough resources to buy a slightly bigger, better ship the next time you find one for sale at a space station or trading outpost. I used this method for my first 100 hours of play, and I ended up with a 48-slot hauler before I even unlocked most of the endgame story missions. If you choose to use this approach, keep these quick tips in mind:
- Always check the ship’s total slot count before you commit to buying or trading for it, even if it has a coveted S-class rating
- Prioritize haulers if you need extra storage for exploration, or large fighters if you spend most of your time hunting pirates or completing combat missions
- Save at least 1 million units as a buffer for unexpected repair costs when you first take ownership of a bigger ship
The only real downside to this method is it takes a little longer than more direct approaches, but it feels far more rewarding because you’re earning every upgrade step by step. You also end up with a ton of extra upgrade modules you can use to customize your big ship once you finally get it.
Unlock High-End Big Ships Using Nexus Missions and Community Rewards
If you don’t mind playing with other people, Nexus missions are one of the fastest ways to earn the units and reputation you need to buy a top-tier big ship straight from a vendor. The Nexus is located on the Space Anomaly, and it offers daily and weekly missions that reward millions of units, rare upgrade modules, and huge reputation boosts with all three of the game’s main alien races. Weekly Nexus missions often give out enough units to buy a mid-tier big ship in just one 20-30 minute run, especially if you team up with 2-3 other players to complete objectives faster.
You can also earn exclusive big ships during limited-time community events hosted by the game’s developers. These ships often have unique paint jobs and stat rolls you can’t get anywhere else in the game, and most only require you to complete a handful of simple community challenges to unlock. You don’t have to play with random people if you don’t want to, either: you can run most Nexus missions solo, they just take 10-15 minutes longer to finish. Just be careful of scams in public lobbies where people offer to trade you a free big ship for your rare items, 9 times out of 10 they’ll take your items and leave without holding up their end of the deal.
At the end of the day, there’s no wrong way to build your ideal fleet in No Man’s Sky. Some players love the thrill of hunting down a crashed S-class hauler on a desolate ice planet, while others prefer running missions with friends to earn enough units to buy the exact capital freighter they’ve had their eye on for weeks. Figuring out how to get a big ship in No Man's Sky is all about picking the method that fits your playstyle, not forcing yourself to follow a grind path you don’t enjoy. The next time you warp into a new star system, keep your eyes peeled for distress calls or passing freighters, you might just find your new favorite ship waiting for you.
