When I first booted up No Man’s Sky three years ago, I puttered around my starting system in a beat-up tiny hauler for almost 12 hours straight. I kept running out of inventory space mid-mining run, my warp drive could barely jump between adjacent planets, and I had no clue I could get better ships without grinding hundreds of thousands of units first. If you’ve ever stared at your overstuffed cargo hold and slow ship systems and wondered how to get ships in No Man's Sky that actually fit your playstyle, this guide breaks down every legitimate, non-exploitative method for every skill level.
Find Free Crashed Ships With No Upfront Cost
Crashed ships are the best option for new players who don’t have a stockpile of units to spend, and you can find them within your first few hours of play. All you need is a small stack of navigation data, which you can get from scanning planetary waypoints or digging up buried data modules. Trade the navigation data for emergency signal beacons at any space station’s cartographer, then use the beacon on any planet to pull up a distress signal for a crashed ship. Crashed ships only require you to repair their launch thrusters and pulse engine to fly them immediately, so you don’t have to waste resources fixing every broken inventory slot right away. The class and slot count of the ship is set as soon as you activate the beacon, so save your game before using one if you’re hunting for an S-class or high-slot variant. You can even scrap unwanted crashed ships at the nearest space station for extra resources and nanites, making them a great side income source too.
Purchase High-Tier Ships From Space Station and Settlement Pilots
If you have units to spend and you’re looking for a specific design or class, buying ships directly from NPC pilots is your best bet. Every time you land at a space station, a rotating pool of ships will land over 10 to 15 minutes, and you can walk up to any pilot to inspect their ship and make a purchase offer. You can trade in your current ship for a partial discount, so you never have to pay full price if you’re willing to part with an older vessel. S-class ships spawn at a 2% rate in regular systems, and 5% rate in wealthy (3-star economy) systems, so head to a high-economy system first if you’re grinding for a top-tier hauler or fighter. The ship pool for any given system is fixed, so if you see a ship you love but can’t afford right now, you can reload your save or come back later and it will eventually spawn again. You can also find rare ship variants landing at player-owned settlements, so check in at your settlement regularly if you’re hunting for something unique.
How to Get Ships in No Man's Sky via Special Quest Lines
Some of the most unique and powerful ships in the game are only available through dedicated quest lines, and many of them don’t cost any units at all. These ships have exclusive designs and perks you can’t get from random crashed or purchased ships, so they’re well worth the small time investment to unlock. Some of the easiest quest-locked ships to add to your collection first include:
- Free starter freighter: Rescue from a pirate ambush when you warp into a new system within your first 10 hours of play, no cost required and it comes with a hangar to store your other ships
- Sentinel Interceptor: Complete the short "A Trace of Metal" quest to unlock access to corrupted planets, where you can claim these high-damage combat ships for free by repairing their damaged cores
- Living Ship: Purchase a Void Egg for 3,200 Quicksilver from the Space Anomaly’s Quicksilver merchant and finish the 5-part Starbirth quest line for a fully organic unique vessel
Living ships have unique organic tech that doesn’t require expensive resources to repair, and they come with all inventory slots unlocked from the start, making them a great option for players who hate grinding for repair materials. You can also get exclusive limited-edition ships from seasonal expedition events, so log in during expeditions if you want rare skins and variants you can’t get any other way.
Tips to Upgrade Your Ship Collection Without Wasting Resources
It’s easy to waste hundreds of thousands of units and thousands of nanites upgrading ships you’ll end up scrapping a few hours later, so these small tips will help you build your collection efficiently. First, don’t waste high-grade upgrade modules on C or B class ships, since you’ll likely replace them fairly quickly as you find better options. Save your upgrade modules for A or S class ships you plan to keep long term. You can store up to 6 ships in your freighter hangar at any time, plus your freighter itself, so you don’t have to delete old ships you love to make space for new ones. If you do end up with ships you don’t want, scrap them at a space station instead of deleting them: you’ll get all your installed upgrade modules back, plus a large stack of resources and nanites for your trouble. Always inspect a ship’s inventory layout before buying or claiming it; ships with more dedicated tech slots are far more powerful than ships with mostly general cargo slots, even if they have the same total slot count. If you find a ship with a design you love but a low class, you can upgrade its class at the Space Anomaly using nanites, so you don’t have to grind forever for an S-class variant of your favorite ship.
At the end of the day, there’s no right or wrong way to build your ship collection in No Man’s Sky. Some players love spending hours hunting for rare crashed S-class ships for free, others save up for months to buy their perfect fighter, and some stick exclusively to the unique quest-locked ships. No matter what your playstyle is, knowing how to get ships in No Man's Sky opens up a whole new level of exploration, combat, and trading possibilities. Don’t rush to get the best possible ship right away; half the fun is stumbling on a weird, colorful random ship you fall in love with while exploring a random uncharted planet.
