Your first day in the ‘Verse

You spawn in your habHabShort for habitation room — your character's personal room at a station or city. A place to store gear and set your respawn point. Press the bed to sleep and lock in your location. — a small personal apartment. Look around. Notice the bed (you will need it to log out safely), the storage terminal on the wall, and the door.

Press F1 to open your mobiGlasmobiGlasYour character's wrist-mounted computer. It opens missions, manages inventory, summons ships, and handles in-game messages. Press F1.. Check your wallet — your 50,000 UECUECUnited Earth Credits — the in-game currency used for buying ships, weapons, and gear in the live game. UEC carries between play sessions and patches. referral bonus should be there. Note your starting city. Close mobiGlasmobiGlasYour character's wrist-mounted computer. It opens missions, manages inventory, summons ships, and handles in-game messages. Press F1. and head to the door.

Each city has its own route from the hab district to the spaceport. The full routes for all four major cities are in Section 11: Getting from your hab to the hangar.

The quick version: take the elevator out of the hab tower, follow transit signage to the spaceport, and look for the hangar district once there. Hold F on any kiosk or terminal for the Inner ThoughtInner ThoughtThe contextual interaction system — hold F to see the actions available on whatever you're looking at. Sit, pick up, repair, board. context menu, which often has a “Set Destination” option to put a marker on your HUD.

At the spaceport, look for an ASOP terminalASOPAutomated Ship Operations and Placement — the in-game terminal where you retrieve, store, or insurance-claim your ships. Pronounced "A-sop." — a vertical kiosk with a ship icon. These are typically near the hangar bay entrance, after a security checkpoint. Hold F to interact with it.

Your starter ship will appear in the terminal’s list. Select it and choose Claim. The terminal assigns you a hangar number (e.g., “Hangar 7-A”). Note this number, then walk to that hangar door.

If the terminal shows “Reclaim” instead of “Claim,” the ship is still spawning. Wait 30–60 seconds and try again.

Walk to your assigned hangar. The door opens automatically when you approach. Your ship is inside. Walk up to the entry point — a door ramp, a ladder, or an access hatch depending on the ship.

Hold F at the entry point. Select Enter Seat or the equivalent option. You are now in the cockpit.

Take a moment. Look around the cockpit. MFDsMFDMulti-Function Display — the configurable cockpit screens that show shields, power, comms, mining info. Different ships have different MFD layouts. (multi-function displays) line the sides. The central display shows your speed. You are about to fly a spaceship.

Your ship is unpowered. Press 1 to request power from the ship’s systems. You will hear engines spooling, systems coming online. Wait for the HUD to populate.

Toggle landing gear up with N. Apply gentle upward thrust with Space to lift off. Move the mouse to steer. Exit the hangar slowly — the hangar door and walls will damage your ship if you clip them.

Once clear of the hangar, you are in open air or space. The full take-off sequence is covered in Section 12: Your first flight.

Open mobiGlasmobiGlasYour character's wrist-mounted computer. It opens missions, manages inventory, summons ships, and handles in-game messages. Press F1. (F1) and go to the Contracts Manager. You will see a list of available jobs. Look for delivery missions — they show a package icon and describe picking up and dropping off cargoCargoBuying goods cheap at one station and selling them high at another. The classic trader loop. Hangar size and SCU capacity are your limits..

Select a delivery mission in the StantonStantonThe first playable star system — four corporate-owned planets (ArcCorp, Crusader, Hurston, microTech), each with cities and moons. Mostly safe, law-enforced. system — one that picks up from and delivers to locations on the same planet or moon you are near. Accept it. A waypoint appears on your HUD pointing toward the pickup location.

If the pickup location is far away — across a moon, at an orbital station, or on another body in the system — you will use quantum travelQuantum TravelFaster-than-light travel between points in a star system. Your ship's quantum drive eats fuel and takes time, but it's how you cross planets and moons. to get there fast.

With your destination targeted (it appears as a waypoint), hold R to spool the quantum drive. A circular progress bar appears in your HUD. When it completes and flashes, hold B to jump. The ship accelerates dramatically and you are transported across the system in seconds to minutes depending on the distance.

Point your nose at the destination marker before spooling — the quantum drive only jumps in the direction you are already facing.

Land at the pickup location — look for a landing padLanding PadA numbered platform at a station or city spaceport where your ship is assigned when you request it from the ASOP terminal. Each pad has a number — finding the right one is a rite of passage for new players. (a marked flat surface, often with yellow/white markings). Lower landing gear (N) before touchdown.

Inside the location, find the box or item for your mission. It will be highlighted with a mission marker. Hold F to pick it up. Carry it to your ship’s cargoCargoBuying goods cheap at one station and selling them high at another. The classic trader loop. Hangar size and SCU capacity are your limits. hold and place it inside.

Fly to the delivery location, land, and carry the box to the marked dropoff point. The mission completes automatically and aUECaUECAlpha UEC — the test-server currency used during Star Citizen alpha. It usually wipes when CIG resets the player database between major patches. lands in your wallet.

After your first mission, you have a sense of the loop. Spend the rest of your first session exploring:

• Visit a space station — fly to the nearest orbital station. They have shops, medical bays, and terminals.
• Walk around a city — step out of the spaceport and explore the city district. Star Citizen’s cities are enormous and genuinely interesting to walk through.
• Run a second mission — now you know the loop, it goes faster.
• Visit a shop — use some aUECaUECAlpha UEC — the test-server currency used during Star Citizen alpha. It usually wipes when CIG resets the player database between major patches. to buy armor or a weapon from a city retailer. Equip it from your inventory (I).

When you are done, do not just close the game. Return to your ship or any location with a bed. Hold F on the bed and select Bed Log. This performs a bedlogBedloggingLogging out by lying down in your ship's bed. Saves your loadout, your ship state, and your inventory more reliably than logging out from anywhere else. The veteran sleep button. — a clean save that preserves your character’s exact location and state.

If you cannot reach a bed, use the Escape menu → log out. This performs a standard logout and respawns you at your set home location next session.