Ships (2024)

Ships are the central feature of Elite Dangerous, and are used to traverse space and perform a variety of different tasks. There are a variety of designs to suit various roles and careers. Many ship designs were inspired by the wireframe and polygonal models of classic Elite games.

Each ship has a range of optional modules to specialize as a trader, smuggler, bounty hunter, pirate etc. All ships are designed with ship interiors in mind and for future gameplay opportunities.

38 ships, 6 Fighters and 1 Carrier are pilotable. These are built by several manufacturers with unique styles. All commanders start with a Sidewinder MkI. Purchase new ships with adequate credits. Pre-built ships are equipped with modules and engineering for ARX. The ships are for sale at Stations and Surface Ports with a Shipyard. Modules can be changed or upgraded at Stations and Surface Ports with an Outfitting service.

People can join other ships as a hologram via multicrew. Nearly all ships and stations are fitted with GalNet for market information, galactic news and communication.^[1][2]

Available Ships

All ships available to players are presented below. Some ships require attaining a specific rank with the Federal or Imperial navies before they can be purchased.

Small

Small ships are designed to dock with small Landing Pads.

Medium

Medium ships are designed to dock with medium Landing Pads.

Large

Large ships are designed to dock with large Landing Pads.

Other

The following spacecraft can be purchased by players, but are not classified as conventional ships.

Ship-Launched Fighters

Ship-Launched Fighters can only be deployed from Fighter Hangars installed on suitable ships. They cannot be customised in Outfitting apart from their Livery, and they lack their own Frame Shift Drives.

Capital Ships

Capital Ships are large jump-capable ships that cannot be directly piloted by the player. Capital Ship owners can customise their vessels' available services and Livery.

Compare Ships

Specifications

Outfitting

Pre-built ships

A Pre-built Ship is a package which includes instant-access to a pre-fitted ship, a ship kit, and a paintjob.^[3] It's themed to match an in-game activity.^[3] The purpose is to provide new and casual players with a solid start of their career without requiring to build ships from scratch.^[3] This benefits players, because unlocking modules, outfitting and engineering ships is a complicated and time consuming grind. Pre-built ships have 0 rebuy cost unless you customize the loadout.

AX Combat Jumpstart

Instant access to an Alliance Chieftain with all the necessary modules to go into the maelstrom and AX conflict vs the Titans.^[3]

• Alliance Chieftain AX Combat Jumpstart^[4]

Mining Jumpstart

• TYPE-6 Laser Mining Jumpstart.^[4]
• The Python Mk II will launch with a pre-built ship package

Ship Roles

Multipurpose

Multipurpose ships are a jack-of-all-trades in that they can easily be fitted for whatever role the player needs; whether it be hauling cargo, ship-to-ship combat, or exploring the stars, multipurpose ships can do it all. Multipurpose ships usually can do most jobs just as well if not better than comparable ships targeted towards those jobs. They, while considered multipurpose, sometimes lean into a more specialized role. The Imperial Courier, for example, is called multipurpose while ending up being a superb combat and exploration vessel, as it isn't very good at trading/mining.

Combat

Combat ships are usually faster, more agile and more heavily armed than other ships of the same size. The exception to this would be gun boats, which have more weapon mounts designed for turrets, but sacrifice their agility for them.

Freighter

Freighters are typically slow, cumbersome and lightly armed, but provide extreme hauling capabilities. Useful for traders and smugglers alike.

Explorer

Exploration ships typically come with large default jump ranges, large Fuel Tanks for ships of their size, and should be fitted with lots of low class Internal Compartments for scanners to optimize jump distance. These ships are designed to be able to equip the multitude of scanning equipment needed for an expedition, then fly long distances into the void without the need for regular refuelling through the use of Fuel Scoops.

Passenger

Couriers who fly passengers and valuable items with small storage requirements have a special class of ships available to them. These ships are elegant and fast, designed to quickly and comfortably get from one system to the next. You can think of them as giant space-limousines.

Ship Interiors

We're designing all the ships with the interiors in mind. How the cargo is unloaded all of that sort of thing, how damage occurs. That's because another thing we are doing is, again down the line, is that you will be able to walk around inside your ship. You'll be able to get out of your ship, walk around inside space stations, other vehicles. All of that sort of thing. We've shown the damage on the ship, the damage models. Imagine looking at that from inside the ship outwards seeing your cargo fly out into space, seeing the flames trying to fight them. All of those things that we plan with time, they won't be at the first release, because we want to do them right, we want to do them well. All of these will be done as updates. The game has to be structured in a way to allow it from the start. So we're designing the ships so that they work that way and so that when we come to do it, it's not a problem.

— David Braben, December 2012^[5]

All playable ships in Elite Dangerous were designed to include interior - as well as exterior - features, most notably in the distinct placement of various internal modules and the ways in which they take damage. During the very early stages of development for the game, David Braben expressed a desire to eventually implement walkable ship interiors in order to add more complex gameplay opportunities such as internal cargo loading/unloading or repairs.^[5]

Frontier released the video ''co*ckpit Interiors'' on July 18, 2014: "Spaceship interiors from Elite: Dangerous, a look at some of the work-in-progress. Getting up out of your seat and walking around your ship will be just the beginning for plans to expand Elite: Dangerous after the initial product. Imagine landing on planets or boarding other ships..."^[6]

As of June 8, 2021, shortly after the PC launch of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, ship interiors were not in active development, and Frontier Developments was focusing on improvements to Odyssey and preparing for its launch on consoles. Frontier community manager Arthur Tolmie (CM Arf) said on Lave Radio, "I can relay the message as best I can. If players are saying ship interiors are an absolute must, obviously we'll assess it, but at the moment it's a case of where do we put our resources, and at the moment it's not ship interiors."^[7][8]

NPC Ships

Capital Ships

There are currently two types of Capital Ships in-game: the Federation's Farragut-Class Battle Cruiser and the Empire's Majestic-Class Interdictor. Both vessels are Battlecruisers. They are heavily armed, can launch several fighter squadrons, and are piloted by NPCs. However, Frontier said in their roadmap that they intend to add the "availability of giant ‘executive control’ ships to players" in a future content update.^[9]

In The Commanders Livestream, a viewer asked, "Any chance of playing capital ships in the future?", David Braben answered, "It's on the list, but a long way down it, because there's a lot of gameplay to make it work. The issue is what we call the difference between direct control and executive control. Where rather than flying by the seat of your pants you're giving orders to a giant ship. Because you can't expect it to change course very rapidly and that sort of thing. So it's certainly a long-term possibility, but it's long-term."^[10]

Megaships

A Megaship is a class of massive ships that travel through the galaxy, and are utilized in a wide variety of roles.^[11] Comparable in size to most stations, and in some cases much longer, a number of Megaships are also equipped with docking facilities for small, medium, and large vessels. All services normally available at stations are on offer, with the exception of the Shipyard. Currently, only NPCs can directly control Megaships, but certain Player Groups can petition for Community Goals to construct new Megaships, and those with docking facilities are usually placed under the control of the sponsoring Group's Player Minor Faction. Even more rarely, a Player Group may be permitted to relocate their Megaship to a different location, as with The Gnosis.

There are various types of Megaships:^[11]

• Bulk Cruiser
  • Asteroid Miner
  • Agricultural Vessel
  • Bulk Cargo Ship
  • Dredger
  • Prison Ship
  • Science Vessel
  • Survey Vessel
  • Tanker
  • Tourist Ship

• Flight Operations Carrier
  • Detention Centre
  • Rescue Vessel
  • Wells-class Carrier^[12]

• Generation Ship

Thargoid Ships

The Thargoids have 4 known ship types in their arsenal: Hunter, Interceptor, Scout and Titan. Old logs retrieved from the Intergalactic Naval Reserve Arm's Carmichael Point base attested to the existence of Titans. These capital ships were discovered inside Thargoid Maelstroms in 3309.

Thargoid vessels employ radically different technologies than human ships. Such as the ability to interdict ships during hyperspace transit and hyperspace jump without leaving an identifiable wake signature. Their powerful offensive and defensive capabilities make them deadly opponents in combat.

Development Notes: Fleet Hierarchy

The fleet-class ships that are available to the game's major factions follow a hierarchy.^[13]

Cruisers (Battlecruisers, Battleships, Interdictors)

Long range, independent ships that are capable of controlling entire systems. Heavily armed and capable of deploying large fighter squadrons. The capital ships already shown are an example of this class. In the Empire they are usually known as “Interdictors” – named after the first successful class of cruisers. Currently the most common and most successful Imperial Cruiser is the Majestic-Class – generally referred to as a “Majestic-Class Interdictor”. As ships that can also carry out ambassadorial missions they can be used for ‘soft’ power projection, as well as hard, the same goes for the Federation's most common and successful Cruiser, named the Farragut-Class Battle Cruiser.

Frigates

These are large ships designed for escort duties. The actual vessels vary greatly between navies, but are all designed to engage multiple small, fast enemies (typically fighters and missile swarms) and are loaded with point defence batteries. They will also have some anti-ship capability, but are not designed to go up against other warships.

Destroyers

These are anti-warship vessels, but are generally no longer used in the front line, though some are still in service.

Carriers

Carriers are designed for the deployment of fighter squadrons. They have been considered obsolete and phased out of the fleets of the major factions due to the popularity of Cruisers, but small navies still make use of them and some have even been converted into transporters.

The 34th century saw the resurgence of Carriers with the introduction of the Drake-Class Carrier, a product of Brewer Corporation.

Transporters (Couriers)

Armoured warships designed specifically for transporting valuable assets and cargo quickly and safely.

Corvettes (Cutters)

Light multi-role warships, capable of reconnaissance, incursions and escort missions. These small warships are also popular with smaller factions, organizations and even wealthy individuals due to their adaptability. The Federal Corvette is a slower Corvette-class Ship with more maneuverability and firepower, while The Imperial Cutter is a lighter and faster Corvette-class ship, players will be able to get their hands on these ships in the game (assuming they can make the right contacts).

Fighters

Small short-range craft that generally cannot operate independently due to having no jump capability. Their main roles include the defence of stations and the large warships that they are deployed from. Commercial fighters are typically jump-capable and are therefore much more flexible than their faction-specific counterparts.

Drones

Small automated ships that have largely been phased out due to the existence of effective counter-measures. The closest setting-modern analogue would be Limpets, which are used almost purely for logistical/support tasks such as field repairs rather than direct combat, though some can be used for sabotage.

Companies

These are important ship building companies.

Name	Description	Type	Logo
Brewer Corporation	Independent manufacturer of Stations, weapons platforms, and ships.	Drake-Class Carrier
Core Dynamics	Federal manufacturer of ships, skimmers, and ship modules based in Sol.	Eagle MkII, F63 Condor, Farragut-Class Battle Cruiser, Federal Assault Ship, Federal Corvette, Federal Dropship, Federal Gunship, Vulture
Faulcon DeLacy	Independent manufacturer of ships and equipment that is based in Reorte.	Anaconda, Cobra MkIII, Cobra MkIV, Krait MkII, Krait Phantom, Python, Sidewinder MkI, Taipan, Viper MkIII, Viper MkIV
Gutamaya	Imperial manufacturer of ships and various equipment.	Gu-97, Imperial Clipper, Imperial Courier, Imperial Cutter, Imperial Eagle, Majestic-Class Interdictor
Lakon Spaceways	Allied manufacturer of ships and equipment based in Alioth.	Alliance Challenger, Alliance Chieftain, Alliance Crusader, Asp Explorer, Asp Scout, Diamondback Explorer, Diamondback Scout, Keelback, Type-6 Transporter, Type-7 Transporter, Type-9 Heavy, Type-10 Defender
Saud Kruger	Independent corporation based in Bedaho that manufactures luxury passenger ships and equipment.	Beluga Liner, Dolphin, Narwhal Liner, Orca
Zorgon Peterson	Independent manufacturer of ships and equipment, subsidiary of Faulcon DeLacy.	Adder, Fer-de-Lance, Hauler, Mamba

On Foot Gestures

• If you stand outside, aim at a ship or SRV and use the clap gesture it will turn on the exterior lights.^[14]
• If you use the goodbye wave the ship will depart.^[14]

Videos

Gallery

References