As you Pulse around systems in No Man’s Sky you will occasionally (seemingly randomly, but it’s actually not, but that is a tale for another day).

In this section, we have been documenting these encounters and here we will look at one of the more profitable ones you will come across - that of the Derelict Freighter.

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Dropping out of Pulse Drive will reveal the Derelict Freighter, ripe for exploring.

What is the Derelict Freighter in No Man’s Sky¶

As you are Pulsing between plants you will receive a message to drop out from Pulse to investigate something you have found and when you do you will be confronted by broken bits of the destroyed capital ship.

At first, it might not seem that intuitive what you need to do, but if you fly around the freighter you should be able to locate one of the four landing pads. Set down and exit your ship and start your investigation.

How to board a Derelict Freighter in NMS?¶

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Skirt around the wreckage until you locate one of the four landing pads. Then you can really get going on the mission.

After landing you will need to find the airlock terminal to gain access as the ship is otherwise sealed. Once you have interacted with the terminal, you can explore through the icy remains.

Aboard the ship and within the corridors and rooms you will come across containers you can open to receive the contents. You will also find heaters that you can activate and turn on to reduce the damage you are taking from the cold of outer space.

Make sure you have enough resources to be able to charge your Exosuit’s various Life Support systems as you go, as you won’t want to get caught short out there. There are no Sodium Rich plants growing in deep space.

Each Derelict Freighter can also contain enemies and in a darkened, gravity0less environment these can be a bit Ripley-Esque so keep your wits about you.

The rewards for trekking deep into the ship’s bowels however are well-worth it - you should be expecting to leave with hundreds of nanites, a Cargo Bulkhead that will let you expand your own ship, or even upgrades for your own fleet.

You can also potentially pick up scrap with a value in the millions, so if you come across a Derelict Freighter while you are traveling around, definitely do not pass up the opportunity to investigate.

Just remember, you can’t save the game during a Derelict Freighter mission and they can certainly be quite hazardous, so let’s be careful out there.