How to customize a ship in No Man’s Sky Orbital update

No Man’s Sky is forever exceeding expectations with incredible free updates. The Orbital update introduces ship customization so you can make the spacecraft of your dreams. Let me show you how it works. Here’s how to customize a ship in the No Man’s Sky Orbital update.

How to build a custom ship in the No Man’s Sky Orbital update

Ship customization can be heavy on the wallet, depending on how long you’ve played. That said, here’s what you need to do step by step.

Visit a Space Port

You can build and customize ships in any Space Port, so travel to a new one or any you’ve visited previously. The Orbital update has given Space Ports a stunning overhaul, and they look incredible inside and out (pictured above).

Many features you’re used to in the Space Ports remain the same, albeit with a different layout. 

Purchase a ship (optional)

Depending on how far you are into No Man’s Sky, you may have a few ships ready to salvage. Assuming you don’t, you can purchase a vehicle at the Space Port. Ships will frequently dock, and you can speak to their pilots to buy them. Make an offer on their spacecraft and press Negotiate Price to see what’s on offer.

Starships can easily cost millions of credits, and the price only increases if the ship is high-class.

Visit the Starship Outfitting station

You’ll find a Starship Outfitting station at the back of the Port behind your ship. If you have a spare spacecraft, interact with the station and select Begin Salvage Analysis. 

Here’s where it gets a little tricky: choose Extract Customization Module, and you can pick one ship part for salvage. You can use whatever you salvage as part of your custom build.

The rest of the ship is destroyed, so you must do this with at least three vehicles. It’s also worth mentioning that you can’t mix parts from different classes. Here’s what you need to assemble each one:

Hauler

• Cockpit
• Wings
• Thruster
• Reactor Core

Fighter

• Fuselage
• Wings
• Thruster
• Reactor Core

Explorer

• Hull
• Right Wing
• Left Wing
• Reactor Core

You’ve probably noticed you can’t salvage a Reactor Core, so let’s get one of those next.

How to get a Reactor Core in No Mans Sky Orbital Update

Every new starship needs a Reactor Core. Fortunately, they are easy to obtain. Head upstairs and talk to the Starship Research Technology Merchant. This Vendor won’t speak to me unless I jump over the counter, so you may need to do that to interact with them. 

You can buy different-grade Reactor Cores, which wildly differ in price. The Vendor I found sells C-Class Cores for 300 Nanites and S-Class Cores for 12,000.

Once you’ve got all the parts and the Reactor Core, it’s time to put everything together.

Visit the Starship Fabricator

The Starship Fabricator is next to the Starship Outfitting station. This is where you assemble the relevant parts for your ship. Choose a ship type from the options at the bottom of the screen (shoulder buttons on a controller) and put a part in every slot. 

You can’t build a ship without every required piece, but press Assemble once you’ve chosen everything. The final part of ship customization is the most important: picking a color scheme. Once you’re happy with your choices, press confirm to complete your first custom starship.

You can name your ship from the Starship tab of the main menu, and it’s functionally identical to any spacecraft you find in the wild.

Can I make my own ship as a new player?

Ship customization is quite easy when you know how, but your barrier to entry as a new player is money. Buying ships for salvage is a costly business. Even if you get lucky and find ships in the wild, ship collecting isn’t usually an early-game activity.

If you just want to experiment with the new content, I recommend starting a game in Creative Mode. Creative Mode gives you unlimited currency, so you can buy any ship you like for salvage. If you stay at a Spaceport, you can buy every spacecraft that docks there and quickly amass a respectable inventory of Ship Parts.

No Man’s Sky has come so far since its shaky launch, and the exploration elements even rival Bethesda’s finest. We never know what’s coming next with No Man’s Sky, and now we can cruise across the galaxy in style.