Star Citizen’s ‘Free Fly’ event lets you test drive $9,000-worth of space planes

The ambitious Star Citizen project passed a major milestone last week when it pushed out a new update on its live alpha servers. To celebrate, the team at Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) is making its multiplayer game free to play from Nov. 23 through Nov. 30. Most importantly, it’s also making every one of the 80-plus flyable in-game ships free to fly. The team tells Polygon that’s roughly $9,000 worth of ships at the current retail price on its crowdfunding storefront.

The Star Citizen project includes both an unreleased single-player game (Squadron 42) and a multiplayer, MMO-like game called the “persistent universe” or PU which is currently in an alpha state. Since the original Kickstarter campaign launched in 2012, the team at CIG has funded the game mostly by selling access to the PU and single ships on an individual basis.

Normally, ships are sold well in advance of their addition to the game. A recent exception is the Anvil Valkyrie, a close-support attack ship, that was the game’s first “straight to flyable” vehicle. It initially sold for $330.

These sorts of single-ship sales have helped make the Star Citizen project the most-crowdfunded endeavor of any kind with more than $200 million earned so far. The project has not offered a release date since 2016, but regularly shares development updates with the community.

Anyone can download the Star Citizen client and gain access to the PU starting Nov. 23. Starting that day, each of the in-fiction manufacturers will offer access to their fleet of ships for a 24-hour period. If you find one that you like, you can now convert in-game currency into ships for the first time. The recent update also adds Hurston, the game’s first habitable planet.

After Nov. 30, of course, you’ll need to pay a minimum of $45 to continue playing. Access to the single-player game, when it’s available, is extra.

CIG also issued a press release that includes a complete listing of the game’s manufacturers, their available ships, and when each will be free to fly. All descriptions below are from the developer.

Nov 23 — Anvil Aerospace

• Arrow: Agile fighter that packs a huge punch. A speedy glass cannon.
• Gladiator: A ruggedly built two-person dive bomber.
• Hornet F7C: Tough and dependable, the F7C is a multipurpose medium fighter.
• Hornet F7C Wildfire: Special Edition of the F7C Hornet with custom livery and loadout geared for Arena Commander.
• Hornet F7C-R – Tracker: Sacrificing a turret for an advanced radar dome, the Hornet Tracker seeks what is hidden.
• Hornet F7C-S – Ghost: Stealthy, quiet, silent – the Ghost haunts an area by keeping a low profile.
• Hornet F7C-M – Super Hornet: A two-seater multi-purpose medium fighter with a heavier loadout.
• Hurricane: A heavy fighter with excessive loadout, including a turret that punches through shields and defenses.
• Terrapin: Heavily armored ship with a sophisticated scanner, ideal for recon and exploration.
• Valkyrie: A heavily armed multirole gunship and dropship.

Nov 24 — Roberts Space Industries

• Aurora ES: A descendent of the X-7, this is the perfect choice for new ship owners. Versatile and intuitive.
• Aurora LN: For the combat focused, the Aurora LN comes with bigger shields and larger weapons that pack a punch.
• Aurora LX: The Aurora Deluxe, adding luxury and comfort for long stretches in the deep black.
• Aurora MR: A balance of function and performance, the Aurora MR comes with cargo capacity and guns to ensure freight gets there safely.
• Constellation Andromeda: A multicrew freighter with modular design, the RSI Andromeda is one of the most iconic ships in the verse.
• Constellation Aquila: Exploring the stars and distant horizons, the redesigned cockpit offers max visibility with a rover and sensor suite to explore it all.
• Constellation Phoenix: A chariot of the Gods, this converted luxury, high performance Constellation freighter is ideal for VIP transport.
• Ursa Rover: Rugged, Durable and tough, this is the rover you need to explore a multitude of environments.

Nov 25 — Origin Jumpworks

• 300i: Travel in style with this high-performance sleek touring ship.
• 315p: Traverse the ‘verse with this high-performance exploration focused ship.
• 325a: Origin’s sleek signature fighter, the 325 makes a great companion for finding your mark in style and sophistication.
• 350r: Origin’s sleek signature racer, the 350 makes a great companion for leaving your peers in the dust.
• 600i Explorer: The luxury yacht of Star Citizen, designed to explore in comfort and style with a vehicle bay.
• 85X: A luxury and sporty short-range runabout for pilot and passenger.
• M50: Origin’s premier racer, small, fast and highly agile.

Nov 26 — Aegis Dynamics

• Avenger Stalker: A modified version of the Avenger, catering to bounty hunters with prison cells.
• Avenger Titan: A former police ship with a cargo hold for light freight and courier abilities.
• Avenger Titan Renegade: Special Edition of the Avenger Titan with custom livery and loadout geared for Arena Commander.
• Avenger Warlock: A variant of the Avenger, armed with EMP generator to disable enemies.
• Eclipse: A sleek stealth bomber, armed with heavy torpedoes.
• Gladius: An aged but agile light fighter with mid-range armament.
• Gladius Valiant: Special Edition of the Gladius with custom livery and loadout geared for Arena Commander.
• Hammerhead: A multi-crew corvette bristling with manned turrets designed to counter fighters.
• Reclaimer: A heavy deep space salvage vessel to reclaim wrecks and derelicts.
• Retaliator Bomber: A long-range anti capital ship bomber, covered in turrets and capable of launching size 9 torpedoes.
• Sabre: Favoring agility over durability, this ship is light, sleek and deadly.
• Sabre Comet: Special Edition of the Sabre with custom livery and loadout geared for Arena Commander.
• Vanguard Hoplite: Long-range Squad Dropship with a turret gunner.
• Vanguard Warden: Long-range Heavy Fighter with a turret gunner.

Nov 27 — Drake Interplanetary

• Buccaneer: A light fighter that sacrifices durability and an ejection seat for raw fire power.
• Caterpillar: A heavy multicrew commercial freighter. Lightly armed, with superior cargo capacity.
• Caterpillar Pirate: A heavy multicrew commercial freighter. Lightly armed, with superior cargo capacity and custom pirate livery.
• Cutlass Black: Black is Back. Drakes multicrew Cutlass is highly versatile, with combat and cargo prowess.
• Dragonfly Black: A two-seater grav-lev bike. Easily traverses rough terrain, or closes the distance in space.
• Dragonfly Yellowjacket: A two-seater grav-lev bike. Easily traverses rough terrain or closes the distance in space with custom yellow livery.
• Herald: No secret is safe, Drake’s Herald captures and stores information before leaving at blistering speed.

Nov 28 — Alien Manufacturers

• Khartu-al: Enigmatic, exotic and agile. The fragile Khartu-al excels at lateral thrust and maneuverability.
• Nox: Sleek and fast, this gravity bike slices across rough terrain. Perfect for scouting and racing.
• Nox Kue: Sleek and fast, this gravity bike slices across rough terrain. Perfect for scouting and racing with a bespoke Silver paintjob.
• Vanduul Glaive: This Alien medium fighter replica drives fear with it’s ramming blades.
• Vanduul Blade: Armed and Dangerous. This alien fighter slices through the air with it’s agility and shreds its foes.

Nov 29 — Musashi Industrial and Starflight Concern

• Freelancer: A multicrew cargo freighter, with turret and ordnance to deter those after it’s haul.
• Prospector: A miner’s best friend, with a powerful mining laser and saddle bags to turn mineral to profit.
• Razor: Cutting ahead of the competition, this sleek racer will give the others a run for pole position.
• Razor EX: Stealth special edition of the Razor outfitted with signature-reducing materials and stealth components.
• Razor LX: Special edition of the Razor features an overclocked engine, reduced maneuverability and armaments in exchange of straight-line speed.
• Reliant Kore: A fusion of Xi’an and Human technology, this light freighter allows you to haul cargo with a friend.
• Starfarer: Keep fleets on the move with this heavy refueler.
• Starfarer Gemini: Keep fleets on the move with this heavy refueler, the Gemini version sacrifices capacity for armor and a missile launcher.

Nov 30 — Kruger/Argo/Tumbril/Consolidated Outland

• Argo MPUV 1C: A small and unarmed utility runabout that transports cargo.
• Argo MPUV 1P: A small unarmed utility runabout tuned to transport personnel.
• Cyclone: Stir up a storm with this robust two-seater buggy that can carry a little something in the back.
• Cyclone AA: This two-seater buggy with EMP functionality is armed with an anti-air missile launcher to deter threats from above.
• Cyclone RN: Unveils the fog of war, the recon variant of the Cyclone is mounted with a powerful scanner array.
• Cyclone TR: Support ground infantry with this combat variant, equipped with a mounted turret to provide cover fire for ground operations.
• Mustang Alpha: Consolidated Outland’s premier ship for those wanting to push the limits a little more when starting out.
• Mustang Beta: Home is where the heart is, the Beta offers comfortable living quarters for beginners roaming the frontier.
• Mustang Delta: The Mustang Delta is armed with heavier weapons and rocket pods.
• Mustang Gamma: Racing the competition? The additional engine loaded into the back will provide competitive the edge you need.
• P-52 Merlin: Small, agile and comes with a sting. This snub fighter is fragile, but difficult to hit.