If you’ve spent even a few hours zipping across No Man’s Sky’s endless galaxy, you’ve definitely stared at a sleek, glowing fighter or a cavernous hauler passing overhead and wondered how to get new ships in No Man’s Sky that fit your playstyle. The good news is you don’t have to grind for hundreds of hours to get a vessel that matches your needs, whether you want to haul tons of trade goods, speed through pirate ambushes, or carry a small fleet of support frigates. We’ve tested every method of acquiring ships across hundreds of playthroughs, so we’re breaking down the most reliable, low-effort ways to upgrade your ride without wasting resources you could spend on base building or exploration.
Find Crashed Ships for Free on Uncharted Planets
This is the best method for new players who don’t have a huge stock of units to spend on a new ride, and it only requires a small amount of navigation data to get started. Head to any space station’s cartographer, and you can buy distress signal maps for 15 navigation data each, which you can collect from scanning beacons on planets or opening data caches. Distress signal maps have a 90% chance of leading you to a crashed ship, so you won’t waste much time hunting for leads.
When you land at the crash site, you can inspect the ship to check its slot count, class, and type before you claim it. You won’t have to spend any units to claim a crashed ship, only repair the damaged slots if you want to use it immediately. If the ship has more slots than your current one, you can swap for free even if you don’t repair it first, then scrap your old ship for extra resources like platinum and chromatic metal to fund future upgrades.
Purchase Ships from Pilots at Space Stations and Trade Posts
If you have extra units saved up and want to pick a ship that fits your exact preferences, buying from NPC pilots is the most straightforward option. Every pilot that lands at a space station or planetary trade post will let you inspect their ship and make an offer to buy it, as long as you can cover the cost. You can trade in your current ship to cut the total cost by 30 to 50% depending on its class and slot count, which makes even high-tier S-class ships far more accessible than you might think.
Always check the ship’s core stats before you buy, because two ships of the same class and type can have very different hyperdrive range, damage output, and shield strength. Fighter ships are best for players who fight pirates often, haulers have the most inventory space for trade runs, and explorers have the highest hyperdrive range for jumping across large sections of the galaxy.
It’s easy to get distracted scrolling through ship stats while you wait for rare S-class ships to spawn, so it’s fine to step away for a few minutes to pass the time if you’re stuck waiting for a spawn you want. Lots of players keep a low-stakes casual game open in a second tab to fill the gaps between spawns, and RummyLudo is a popular pick for short, fun rounds that don’t pull your full focus away from the game. You can easily wrap up a round in the time it takes for three new pilots to land, so you won’t miss the rare spawn you’ve been waiting for.
Unlock Living Ships Through the Starbirth Questline
If you’re tired of the standard metal ship designs, this method is perfect when you’re researching how to get new ships in No Man’s Sky that stand out from every other vessel you see. Living ships are fully organic, sentient vessels that have unique visual designs and no repair costs for most common types of damage, making them ideal for long exploration runs where you might not have easy access to repair resources.
To start the quest, you first need to buy a void egg from the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion on the Space Anomaly for 3,200 quicksilver, which you can earn by completing daily and weekly Nexus missions. The quest will send you across a dozen different star systems to collect organic parts for your ship, and each step gives you more lore about the origins of these mysterious organic vessels. Living ships have fixed S-class stats once fully unlocked, so you don’t have to grind for better rolls once you finish the quest. You can redo the quest as many times as you want if you don’t like the look of your first living ship, as long as you have another void egg to start the process over.
Claim Exotic Ships and Royal Vessels From Specific Spawn Points
Exotic ships are the rarest, most powerful vessels in the game, with unique designs like squid-shaped fighters or golden royal haulers that stand out from every other ship type. They only spawn in around 1% of all ship spawns, but there are a few tricks to increase your odds of finding one without camping a trade post for 10 hours straight.
Follow these simple tips to cut down on the time it takes to find your perfect exotic ship:
Exotic ships always spawn as S-class, so you don’t have to worry about getting a lower tier variant when one finally shows up. They are more expensive than regular ships, but their stats are far better than most standard S-class ships of the same size, and their unique designs make them worth the extra grind for players who want a one-of-a-kind ride.
At the end of the day, there’s no “right” way to upgrade your ride, and the best method for how to get new ships in No Man’s Sky depends on how much time you want to spend and what you want to use your ship for. You can grab a free crashed ship on your first hour of play, grind for a living ship for a unique organic ride, or camp a trade post until the perfect exotic spawns. Whatever path you pick, you’ll be zipping across the galaxy in a ship you love in no time.
