Throughout the year, there is no lack of opportunities to acquire a ship with limited availability, with many events allowing access to such ships. The most famous event is the Intergalatic Aerospace Expo, but we can also mention the Invictus Launch Week, Pirate Day, Ship Showdown...
Anniversary Sale
Every year, at the end of November, CIG organizes the Intergalatic Aerospace Expo (IAE) accompanied by the Anniversary Sale. During this period all the ships are available for sale online, in standalone and upgrade, and it is usually possible to try them in game if they are Fly Ready.
Please note that not all ships and vehicles are available during the IAE. As you can see below, some are tied to another event in the year, and others have had a one-time sale and will not be returning.
Invictus Launch Week, DRAKE Defence Con & Alien Week
At the end of May 2020, we saw the arrival of the first Invictus Lanch Week, an event that is close to an anniversary sale of the IAE during which many military ships are offered for sale, displayed and available for testing in game. Since then, the event has returned every year at the same time, followed by the Alien Week in June for non-human ships.
Since he wasn't invited to Invictus Launch Week, DRAKE organized his own event from 2950 to 2954, the "DRAKE Defence Con". The event came to an end in 2955, as Drake was finally able to join the Invictus.
Ship Showdown
The Ship Showdown is a recurrent event taking place 2 to 3 months before the IAE and consists in electing the ship of the year. This event is in 2 phases, the first phase consists of defining the 16 participants and the second phase is a duel where each ship faces another until only one remains. During phase two, the remaining ships are available for sale online and for in-game testing.
The four Ship Showdown finalists then return for the closing ceremony of the current year's IAE, where they are accompanied by an exclusive Best in Show (BiS) livery, and discounted CCU warbond (If the ship's limitations allow it).
Theme Events
Whether it's Coramor, Red Festival, Stella Fortuna, Alien Week or Pirate Day, there are many themed events. Most of these events are either linked to a key date in Star Citizen's lore, such as Alien Week which is associated with the First Contact Day (June 12, 2438), or are derived from a holiday or event in our current world, such as Halloween, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day or the Chinese New Year.
This proximity to a key date in Star Citizen's lore, or in our current world, makes the event predictable both in terms of the date and the nature of the ships offered, which generally match the theme of the moment. For example the Pirate Day refers to the International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19th, it's an opportunity for CIG to promote ships with "Pirate" liveries like the Gladius or Caterpillar Pirate Edition.
| Event |
Date |
Note |
| Red Festival |
Chinese New Year, January or February |
Auspicious Red Paint |
| Coramor |
Valentine's day, February |
Lovestruck Paint and Heartseeker Kit |
| Stella Fortuna |
St. Patrick's Day, March |
Green livery and "Emerald" ships + Racing |
| Triggerfish |
April Fools' Day, April 1st |
No sale |
| Invictus Lanch Week |
Lore event, final week of May |
All Human military ships |
| Alien Week |
Banu-Human First Contact Day, June (Lore) |
All Alien ships and Esperia ship |
| Foundation Festival |
Player Support Week, early July |
Discounted Game Packs |
| Ship Showdown |
Vote for your favorite ship, between June and September |
16 finalists on sale, BiS livery during IAE |
| Pirate Week/Day |
International Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 19th |
Pirate Edition ships and Paint |
| Day of the Vara |
Halloween, October |
Ghoulish Green Paint |
| Intergalatic Aerospace Expo |
Starts approximately November 20th for two weeks |
All ships and BiS Paint |
| Luminalia |
Year-end festivities, December |
Discounted Game Packs |
In recent years, Stella Fortuna has been associated with in-game racing events, which means that the event also offers players the chance to acquire racing outfits and skins.
Dynamic events
Some dynamic events like XenoThreat, Siege of Orison, or JumpTown 2.0, can be the subject of a special sale of ships. Due to the exceptional nature of these events, it is always a good idea to keep up to date with Star Citizen news if you want to be able to take advantage of the event and access the current offers.
Not to mention that each patch can have a theme (transport, bounty hunting, and so on) and becomes an opportunity to showcase various ships or vehicles related to that theme...
Subscription
The subscription can be an opportunity to access a Fly Ready ship that is not permanently available for sale, it allows you to access the ship of the month. This ship is selected among the Fly Ready ships and is made available for free to subscribers for one month, and is then put up for sale exclusively with a 12-month insurance for those who would like to keep the ship longer.
Support Request
You can try to contact support to get a ship, or an upgrade to a ship that is not available for sale, this can work as long as it is a ship that is not subject to various limitations such as those mentioned below. Note that it is best not to abuse this method and being a janitor will probably help in getting a positive response from the assistance.
Promotions and Special Editions
Some ships can only be obtained through special promotions, such as the Sabre Raven, which was included in an SSD bundle, or the Mustang Omega, which came with an AMD offer. These have become collector's items that can fetch very high prices on the secondary market.
Special edition ships can only be obtained during an event and/or after completing a specific task to unlock them:
The Constellation Phoenix Emerald and other Stella Fortuna-themed ships can only be obtained during St. Patrick's Day (Stella Fortuna), and the Hearthseeker Kit can only be obtained on Valentine's Day, during Coramor.
The Esperia Vanduul Glaive can only be acquired by completing 25 Vanduul Swarm waves in Arena Commander multiplayer.
The Caterpillar Pirate Edition and Gladius Pirate Edition are only available in the Standalone version during Pirate Week and require completing the Arena Commander Pirate Swarm in multiplayer to unlock them.
At one time, limited editions, Concierge editions, or Best in Show editions were available as variants consisting of the ship and an exclusive paint scheme. Since then, this practice has been discontinued, and instead, only the paint scheme is now exclusive. But this doesn't change the fact that these “fake variants” were once sold, and you might come across them in-game:
The Ballista Snowblind and Dunestalker were only available during the Ballista's initial release and might even have required Concierge status to access. Since then, these two variants are no longer available.
The Best in Show 2949 editions of the Cutlass Black, Caterpillar, Hammerhead, and Reclaimer are no longer available for purchase; these ships could only be obtained during the last 4 days of the 2019 Intergalactic Aerospace Expo.
"Expedition" and "W/C8X" upgrades for Carrack
At the end of February 2020, the Carrack finally arrives in game and players are surprised to discover three new upgrades for this spaceship. These upgrades don't really change the ship itself, the "Expedition" Carrack is nothing more than the standard Carrack with an exclusive Anvil paint job, and the "w/C8X" versions simply replace the Pisces C8 included with the ship with a Pisces C8X Expedition.
- Carrack w/C8X
- Carrack Expedition
- Carrack Expedition w/C8X
Unfortunately, these upgrades are no longer available. Only the Carrack Expedition can still be found in certain mega ship packs, and the Pisces C8X Expedition remains available individually. But a Carrack w/C8X or a Carrack Expedition w/C8X is practically impossible to obtain, at least through official channels, though you might still find someone who owns one of these upgrades and is willing to trade it to you.
Ships & Vehicles included with another one
Mentioning the different variants of the Carrack is also an opportunity to remind that some ships do not come alone, the Carrack is accompanied by a URSA Rover and a Pisces C8, the Constellation Andromeda has a P-52 Merlin, etc. The following table gives you an overview of the ships and vehicles added to another.
| Ship |
Embedded Ship & Vehicle |
| 600i Executive |
G12 |
| 600i Explorer |
G12 |
| 890 Jump |
85x |
| Carrack |
Pisces C8, URSA Rover |
| Carrack Expedition |
Pisces C8, URSA Rover |
| Carrack Expedition w/C8X |
Pisces C8X Expedition, URSA Rover |
| Carrack w/C8X |
Pisces C8X Expedition, URSA Rover |
| Constellation Andromeda |
P-52 Merlin |
| Constellation Aquila |
P-52 Merlin, URSA Rover |
| Constellation Phoenix |
P-72 Archimedes, Lynx Rover |
| Constellation Phoenix Emerald |
P-72 Archimedes, Lynx Rover |
| Idris-M |
MPUV-1P Personnel |
| Idris-P |
MPUV-1P Personnel |
| Javelin |
MPUV-1C Cargo |
Limited Stock
In the following table, some ships will be marked "++", this implies that the ship will be in limited stock. It is therefore preferable to be present in the first few minutes because they leave very quickly.
Upgrade not available
Some ships are only available as standalone, the upgrade (CCU) is unavailable for these. This mainly concerns capital ship and/or limited quantity sale such as the Idris M and P, the Javelin, the Scythe, the 890 Jump, the Pioneer, the Kraken and Kraken Privateer.
One-time purchase
This is another type of restriction, as ships such as the pirate editions of the Caterpillar and Gladius, or the F8C Lightning, etc., may be limited to one per account.
These ships often come with restrictions, the most well-known being the lack of CCU. However, this can also involve limited stock, the need to complete an in-game achievement, etc. Furthermore, to prevent circumvention of these restrictions, these ships may not be offered as gifts.
Promotional, Concierge and Referral Awards
Some ships can only be obtained as rewards:
The new referral program offers the opportunity to access unique ships, such as the Gladius Dunlevy or RAPTOR, or rare ships like the Scythe and Idris-M, as well as exclusive skins for the Pulse, the Storm, and the Freelancer MAX, which come in addition to the ship or vehicle.
The Dragonfly Startkitten Pink is an exclusive referral bonus reward for the referrer.
Although it is now occasionally available in the store, the F8C Lightning is a Chairman's Club reward. Concierges receive the "Schokwave" paint as a bonus and have access to the "Executive" version. The same applies to the 600i Explorer, for which they have access to an "Executive" version.
In-game rewards only
With the integration of the ATLS IKTI, IKTI GEO, and IKTI RAD in Alpha 4.2, certain vehicles have been added to the persistent universe without being offered for sale in the Pledge Store. For example, the ATLS IKTI and IKTI GEO are Wikelo rewards, and the ATLS IKTI RAD can only be found on the ASD sandbox site. This means that the only way to access them is by playing the game. 😉
Removed ships or vehicles
With the introduction of the Hornet Mk II and the modularity of the Retaliator, certain ships such as the Hornet Mk I and the Retaliator Bomber have been removed from the pledge store and in-game shops, while remaining functional in the game. This "removal" implies that some changes may apply, such as:
Mk I Hornets are no longer available in the game stores; you will only find Mk IIs.
The same applies to the Retaliator Bomber; only the Retaliator and modules can be found in the game stores.
The "Retaliator Bomber" becomes a "Retaliator" accompanied by two torpedo modules.
Although they are no longer available for purchase, the Retaliator Bomber pledges (CCU, standalone) currently in your Hangar or Buy Back section still work.
An upgrade to the Retaliator Bomber or a standalone Retaliator Bomber will give you a Retaliator with torpedo modules.
However, the value of the ship will be $175.00 (value of the Retaliator without the modules) and the two modules will be added separately to your pledge.
The F7C-M Super Hornet Heartseeker Mk I is a ship variant.
The Heartseeker Mk II is a kit containing paint and a turret that can be applied to any Hornet Mk II.
The Hornet Mk I and Mk II cannot interchange their paint or equipment.
The Hornet Mk I is still offered as a loaner ship.
It is still possible to find such ships on the gray market.
As soon as the seller has a CCU or Standalone, they can offer it for sale.
Grey Market
I don't usually recommend using the Grey Market to acquire a ship, one of the reasons being that it works on trust and the scams are easy. Still, sometimes the Grey Market is the only way to get a ship. If you buy a ship on the Grey Market, tell yourself that it will be at your own risk, make sure the seller is trustworthy (excellent rating on the sales network), take the time to inquire if possible and make sure it's not easier to buy the ship through official website (Anniversary sale, for example).
