Last week I stumbled on a gorgeous S-class hauler parked on a toxic planet 300 light years from my home base, but my ship inventory was full and I had zero extra slots to store it. I almost left it behind until I remembered I could scrap my beat-up old C-class fighter for extra units and space, and that’s exactly what I did. If you’ve ever found yourself stuck with too many ships, low on units, or wondering how to scrap a ship in No Man’s Sky without wasting valuable resources, this guide is for you. I’ve broken down every step of the process, from prepping your ship for salvage to getting the maximum possible payout, based on 120+ hours of playing the latest update.
Prerequisites Before You Scrap a Ship in No Man’s Sky
You don’t need any special gear or high-level unlocks to scrap a ship, but there are a few non-negotiable boxes you have to tick first to avoid costly mistakes. You can’t scrap a ship you just found without claiming it first, even if it’s broken down and abandoned sitting on a remote planet. You’ll also need to make sure you have a place to process the salvage, and that you don’t lose any of your own items in the process.
- A registered ship in your fleet that you don’t plan to keep long-term
- Access to a space station or certified settlement with a ship salvage terminal
- All valuable resources, tech upgrades, and cargo removed from the target ship
- At least one other active ship in your fleet to use after scrapping
That last point is extra important for new players who only have their starting ship. You can’t scrap your only method of interstellar travel, so you’ll need to claim at least one other broken or cheap ship first before you can get rid of your starter ride if you want to. I’d recommend waiting until you have at least two reliable ships in your fleet before you start scrapping anything regularly, so you don’t get stranded somewhere without a functional ride.
Step-by-Step Process to Scrap Your Ship for Maximum Payout
The actual scrapping process only takes a couple of minutes once you have all your prerequisites sorted. First, swap to the ship you want to scrap, then fly it to the nearest major space station. Park it in any open landing pad, then walk over to the salvage terminal that’s usually located right next to the ship technician NPC near the front of the station.
Interact with the terminal, and it will pull up a list of all ships registered to your fleet. Select the one you’re currently flying, and the terminal will show you a full breakdown of the payout you’ll receive, including units, scrap materials, nanites, and sometimes rare upgrade modules. Always check the payout breakdown before confirming — sometimes the terminal will offer extra rare items like S-class upgrade modules if you scrap a higher-tier ship, so you don’t want to accidentally confirm before you know what you’re getting.
Once you confirm, the ship will be removed from your fleet instantly, and all the rewards will be added directly to your inventory. If you’re new to how to scrap a ship in No Man’s Sky, you might be tempted to repair all damage first, but that’s almost never worth the effort. The payout will be slightly lower if the ship has damaged tech, but the cost of repairing it usually far outweighs the extra units you’ll get from a full payout. I only repair damaged slots if the ship has a rare tech upgrade I want to remove first, otherwise I just scrap it as-is to save time and resources.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Scrapping Ships
I’ve made almost every possible mistake when scrapping ships over my time playing, so I can tell you exactly what not to do to save yourself time and lost units. The biggest and most common mistake is forgetting to empty your ship’s inventory before scrapping it. Any items left in the ship’s general or tech inventory will be deleted permanently when you scrap it, so take 30 seconds to move everything over to your other ship or your exosuit inventory before you interact with the terminal. I once lost 500 units of activated indium this way, and that mistake cost me almost 2 million units total.
Second, don’t scrap a ship just because it has a low class. Sometimes C or B class ships have unique paint jobs or exotic designs that you can’t find anywhere else, so if you like the way it looks, keep it even if it’s not the highest tier. You can always upgrade its class later with supercharged slots, but you can’t get a unique ship back once you scrap it. I still have a beat-up B-class fighter I found in my first 10 hours of play just because I love its neon pink paint job, even though I have three S-class ships in my fleet now.
Third, don’t scrap ships at planetary settlement terminals if you can avoid it. For some reason, settlement salvage terminals usually offer 10-15% lower payouts than the ones on major space stations. That might not seem like a lot, but if you’re scrapping multiple S-class ships a week, that difference adds up to millions of units over time. Most of these mistakes happen when players are in a hurry and don’t take the time to double-check the process of how to scrap a ship in No Man’s Sky, so slow down for two minutes to avoid regret later.
Creative Ways to Use Ship Scrap Rewards
Most players just sell the scrap metal they get from scrapping ships for extra units, but there are a lot of other cool uses for those rewards that a lot of new players don’t know about. First, the rare upgrade modules you get from scrapping higher-tier ships are usually way better than the ones you can buy from ship technicians, so save any S-class ship upgrade modules for your main ship instead of selling them for nanites. These modules can give you 30%+ extra speed, cargo space, or shield strength, which is way more valuable than a few thousand extra nanites.
You can also use the scrap metal to repair damaged ships you find on planets, so you don’t have to spend your own iron and ferrite dust to fix them up. I keep a stack of ship scrap in my exosuit at all times for this exact reason, so I can claim and fix any cool ships I find while exploring without having to go back to my base for supplies. If you play multiplayer, you can also give extra scrap materials to friends who are just starting out, to help them build their first base or upgrade their own ships.
Another fun use for rare scrap is trading with other players for exclusive items. If you collect a lot of exotic ship scrap, you can use it to trade for rare base parts or unique ships that you can’t find in your own galaxy. I recently traded 3 stacks of exotic ship scrap for a gorgeous S-class explorer ship that I’d been looking for for months, so it’s worth holding onto some scrap instead of selling all of it immediately. You never know what other players will be willing to trade for rare salvage.
At the end of the day, scrapping ships is one of the easiest, fastest ways to earn extra units and clean up your fleet as you explore the galaxy. You don’t need any special upgrades or high-level gear to do it, just a few minutes of your time and a quick trip to the nearest space station. Once you get the hang of how to scrap a ship in No Man’s Sky, you’ll never leave a good found ship behind again just because you don’t have extra inventory slots. If you have any other tips for getting better salvage payouts, drop them in the comments below — I’m always looking for new ways to maximize my earnings while I travel.
