Starfield ships

Starfield ships are your primary transport around the galaxy in Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG, so we’ve put together a guide detailing all the spacecraft.

The fleet of Starfield ships at your disposal is imperative to rocketing your way around the galaxy in Bethesda’s upcoming deep-space RPG. We’ve put together this guide detailing all of the available spacecraft, so you can concentrate on navigating the myriad of planets that await you in the echoes of space. Of course, different ships have different benefits, from capacity to speed, so it’s worth seeing which fits your style of play.

To make sure your Starfield ships are ready to blast off as soon as possible, check out our guides to the Starfield map, Starfield trailer, Starfield release date, and Starfield collector’s edition. Or, if it’s more rocket roundups you’re looking for, see our dedicated Starfield ship types and Starfield ship manufacturers pages.

What are Starfield ships?

Starfield ships are the space vessels you travel around the Settled System in. However, in this sci-fi title, it’s not just a case of picking a ship you like and running with it. Starfield ship customisation allows you to change parts of your spacecraft for necessary improvements or even for aesthetic reasons if you want a specific design from your ship.

The trailer from 2022’s Starfield showcase showed us some possibilities with the Starfield ship customisation menu. While we’ve got some idea of the components you can change on your ship, we’re not sure if you might need any specific Starfield skills to do so. Still, it certainly looks to be an exciting mechanic for those who always wanted their very own rocket ship.

Screenshot of one of the Starfield ships cruising through space for a guide on the topic

Starfield ships customisation

There are eleven stats associated with Starfield ships that you can affect by using different parts or components, giving you the ability to customise how you fly.

  • Cargo
  • Crew
  • Hull
  • Shield
  • Jump Range
  • Mobility
  • Top Speed
  • Mass
  • LAS
  • BAL
  • MSL

Some of these stats, like cargo, shield, mass, crew, and top speed, are pretty obvious, while others need some explaining. LAS, BAL, and MSL seemingly relate to weapon or damage output, with each term shorthand for lasers, ballistics, and missiles respectively. We’re assuming that jump range is in how far you can teleport, while top speed relates to cruising throughout the galaxy. We think the hull is probably the core health of the ship when shields are down, while mobility is dependent on how well the ship can move through the sky. Mass is still a bit of a mystery, but if there’s another Starfield showcase pre-launch, we should find out more.

Outside of the eleven base stats, there’s an indicator in the top right corner of the ship customisation menu that includes the following.

  • W0
  • W1
  • W2
  • ENG
  • SHD
  • GRV

For now, we’re assuming that W0, W1, and W2 each represent a different weapon, while ENG and SHD cover the overall statistics for your engine and shield. GRV is still a bit of a mystery at the minute, with some thinking it might stand for your ‘grav drive’, so that would be an indication of your overall speed. Finally, there’s both a reactor power and equip power rating below these six stats, letting you know whether you have enough power on board to run your equipped modules.

Starfield ships components

So, we know that it’s the components and modules of a spacecraft that influences Starfield ship stats. Below you can find a table indicating how changing each module affects a specific stat or your overall ship stats, so you can start mentally designing your dream rocket ship. 

Starfield ship components Affected stats 
Cannons Health, mass
Cockpit Cargo, crew slots, health, mass
Cowling Health, mass
Engines Engine health, health, mass
Fuel tanks Health, mass 
Habitat module Health, mass, crew slots
Landers Health, mass, crew slots
Lasers Health, mass
Reactors Reactor health, health, mass 

Unfortunately, we still don’t know all the possible parts a ship can have, but there’s enough to be getting on with there. It’s safe to assume that in a game with over 1000 planets that there’s an equally enormous number of customisable options for your Starfield ships. As soon as we know the full long list of components we’re working with, we’ll be back to update this guide. 

Starfield ships interior

If you’re more concerned about what’s going on inside the Starfield ships, then you can get a brief look in advance thanks to a Starfield trailer from early 2022. The clip below gives you a cinematic insight into what we think is the Frontier, your starting ship in Starfield.

Bethesda has confirmed that you can customise the inside of your Starfield ships as well as the outside. We don’t know as much about that yet, so check back closer to the release to see if we’ve updated this page.

Starfield Db is your complete guide to Bethesda’s latest open-world RPG, offering a comprehensive database of locations, weapons, factions, and more.