Expedition 8: Polestar

The subject of this article is from the Waypoint update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 21 February, 2023.

PATCH.EXPEDITION — Expedition Reward Patch/Decal

Expedition 8: Polestar describes the 8th expedition in No Man's Sky.

Summary[ | ]

This page documents the 8th community expedition of No Man's Sky, called Polestar. It began on 27 July 2022, and is planned to end approximately 6 weeks later.

Expedition Background[ | ]

The Polestar expedition will take players on a cruise across the galaxy in their capital ship, forsaking starship warping and planetary base building in favour of the life of a heavy shipping freighter captain.

The Polestar expedition offers the chance to earn an exclusive freighter engine customisation; new base parts (including a flaming barrel); a unique cape design; a mysterious jellyfish companion; and much more besides.

Players who have entirely completed an expedition may now end the expedition early and convert the save to normal mode.

Gameplay[ | ]

This expedition is set to Normal difficulty.

Each player starts the expedition on their freighter, parked some distance away from the space station in the Wazaki star system.

The player's Exosuit initially has 24+4+2 inventory slots, and their avatar is randomly generated.
The starting Multi-tool is a random C-class 7-slot pistol with installed Scanner, Analysis Visor, and Mining Beam.
The starting starship is a random C-class shuttle with 15+4+4 slots, no Hyperdrive and no ability to obtain one.
The starting freighter is a random C-class with 16+8+4 slots. It is pre-installed with an Atmospheric Control Unit, a Freighter Hyperdrive and a Matter Beam, though all three techs are broken. Other starting items include a Save Point, some Gold, Silver, Tritium, Chromatic Metal, 3 Repair Kits and 1 Warp Cell.

In addition to the blueprints known at the beginning of normal mode, the player also knows the following blueprints:

Crafted Products

Equipment

Constructed Technology
Construction Parts
- Several Freighter construction components

The blueprint for the Base Computer is locked and is not awarded until the final expedition reward is claimed. This means the player will not be able to build planetary bases for the duration of the expedition.

In addition the blueprint for the Hyperdrive is also locked until the player completes the Phase 5 milestone Superluminal. NPC starships will also not have Hyperdrives installed until this time. Furthermore the blueprints for the Cadmium Drive, Emeril Drive and Indium Drive cannot be purchased from the Space Anomaly, though the Cadmium Drive blueprint is still available as a quest reward from the Overseer.

The save file will immediately convert to a standard Normal mode save upon claiming the final reward. The Base Computer blueprint is also awarded at this time.

The following blueprints for Freighter technologies and construction parts will be unlocked as milestone rewards:

The standard cost for all of the above blueprints is 57 Salvaged Frigate Modules, including prerequisites not listed here but not including alternative means of unlocking certain blueprints (such as unlocking the Orbital Exocraft Materializer with Salvaged Data at the Space Anomaly). The player will also be awarded 11 free Salvaged Frigate Modules over the course of the expedition.

The blueprint for Amplified Warp Shielding is awarded very early in the expedition (Engage Engines milestone), but the player will have no way of reaching red stars to mine the necessary Cadmium normally. Dismantling Photon Cannon Upgrades, Pulse Engine Upgrades or Positron Ejector Upgrades will provide Cadmium that can be used to install this technology and allow jumping to red stars.

The Singularity Engine is a special Freighter technology that can currently only be obtained on Polestar expedition save files.

Tasks & Rewards[ | ]

Phase 1[ | ]

No	Task	Requirement	Rewards	Remarks
1	Log 1: Emergency	Read the first log	2x Starship Inventory Slot Salvaged Frigate Module Cargo Bulkhead Purple paint freighter customisation	Obtained from the freighter captain
2	All Hands on Deck	Restored critical freighter systems	2x Antimatter 3x Starship Launch Fuel 2x Repair Kit
3	Planetside	Set foot on land	210x Oxygen Refiner Room plans Banned (X-class) Hazard Protection upgrade Powerful (A-class) Mining Beam Upgrade
4	A Well-Oiled Machine	Installed a Refiner Room	Warp Hypercore Storage Room plans
5	Engage Engines	Went intersetellar in your freighter	Warp Hypercore plans Salvaged Hyperdrive Upgrade Amplified Warp Shielding plans
6	Supercargo	Installed a Storage Room	Interstellar Scanner plans 2x Salvaged Frigate Module
7	Galactic Catalogue	Installed the Interstellar Scanner	2,048 Nanites Powerful (A-class) Movement System Upgrade Powerful (A-class) Pulse Engine Upgrade
8	Rendezvous 1	Reached the 1st rendezvous	Magnetic Resonator plans 3,333 Salvaged Frigate Module 2x Inventory Slot	Planet Waffha in the Higare-Rigy system
9	Phase 1 Complete		Pilgrim Poster plans Polestar Poster plans Heavy Shipping Poster plans

Phase 2[ | ]

No	Task	Requirement	Rewards	Remarks
10	Log 2: Into the black	Read the second log	3x Wiring Loom Orbital Exocraft Materialiser plans Yellow paint freighter customisation
11	Rendezvous 2	Reached the 2nd rendezvous	Teleport Chamber plans 3,333 Salvaged Frigate Module 2x Inventory Slots	Planet Mobinusc Sigma in the Nawaguch system
12	Drop Protocol	Installed an Orbital Exocraft Materialiser	Nautilon Chamber plans Roamer Geobay plans Exocraft Specialist's Room plans
13	Freedom of the Seas	Deployed the Nautilon	2x Supreme (S-Class) Submarine Drive Upgrade Significant (B-Class) Nautilon Cannon Upgrade Aquatic Treasure Osmotic Generator plans
14	Across Infinity	Installed a Teleport Chamber	Technology Room (Expansion) plans Construction Specialist's Room plans Advanced Mining Laser plans
15	The Engine of Life	Documented 20 new plants	Double Cultivation Chamber plans Supreme (S-Class) Scanning System Upgrade 2x Powerful (A-Class) Mining Beam Upgrade
16	The Air We Breathe	Installed Double Cultivation Chamber	Biological Room (Expansion) plans Nutrition Room plans Collection of plantable seeds
17	Hospitality	Visited another freighter	Atlas Pass set 5,000,000 Portal glyph set	Optional milestone
18	Phase 2	Phase 2 Complete	High-Gravity Freighter Trail customisation

Phase 3[ | ]

No	Task	Requirement	Rewards	Remarks
19	Log 3: Homesick	Read the third log	Decorative Base Part Set Turquoise paint freighter customisation
20	Rendezvous 3	Reached the 3rd rendezvous	Stellar Extractor Room plans 3,333 Salvaged Frigate Module 2x Inventory Slots	Planet Spontev in the Kotanab-Awa system
21	Power and Industry	Installed a Stellar Extractor Room	Scanner Room plans Industrial Room (Expansion) plans Appearance Modifier Room plans
22	Wing Commander	Recruited 3 sqadron pilots	Supreme (S-Class) Pulse Engine Upgrade Supreme (S-Class) Launch Thrusters Upgrade Supreme (S-Class) Starship Shield Upgrade
23	Galactic Defender	Shot Down 16 pirates	Starship Weaponry Blueprints 3x Salvaged Fleet Beacon plans
24	Called by the Stars	Completed 8 fleet expeditions	3x Frigate Fuel (200 Tonnes) Mineral Compressor Explosive Drones Holographic Analyser	Even aborted expeditions count towards the goal
25	Farseer	Installed a Scanner Room	Galactic Trade Room plans Freighter Glass Corridor plans Reinforced Window plans
26	Home Comfort	Installed a Galactic Trade Room	Bulkhead Door plans Exterior Platform plans Exterior Catwalk plans 16x Glass
27	Phase 3	Phase 3 Complete	Navigation Archive plans Flaming Barrel plans Data Display Unit plans

Phase 4[ | ]

No	Task	Requirement	Rewards	Remarks
28	Log 4: No going back	Read the fourth log	2x Powerful (S-Class) Underwater Oxygen Upgrade 10x Life Support Gel Green paint freighter customisation
29	Rendezvous 4	Reached the 4th rendezvous	Stellar Extractor Room plans 3,333 Salvaged Frigate Module 2x Inventory Slots Multi-Tool Expansion Slot Cargo Bulkhead	Planet Atrin Beta in the Ojiyod II system
30	Stardust	Mined 50 asteroids	400x Liquid Sun 1234x Oxygen 5x Starship Storage Augmentation
31	Reclamation	Restored a crashed ship	Aeration Membrane plans Efficient Water Jets plans Supreme (S-Class) Life Support Upgrade
32	Recycling	Processed a starship into salvage	Supreme (S-Class) Movement System Upgrade Lost Artifact Supreme (S-Class) Launch Thrusters Upgrade 5x Repair Kit
33	Prospector	Analysed 15 new minerals	3x Salvaged Frigate Module Supreme (S-Class) Scanning System Upgrade 25x Salvaged Data
34	Gold Like Sand	Earned 9,000,000 Units	600x Quicksilver 3x Inventory Slots Terrifying Sample
35	Phase 4	Phase 4 Complete	Fleet Commander's Cape customisation

Phase 5[ | ]

No	Task	Requirement	Rewards	Remarks
36	Log 5: Horizons	Read the final log	Homeworld Repeater 10x Antimatter S-class Salvaged Hyperdrive Upgrade Orange paint freighter customisation
37	Rendezvous 5	Reached the final rendezvous	Stellar Extractor Room plans 3,333 Salvaged Frigate Module 2x Inventory Slots Multi-Tool Expansion Slot Cargo Bulkhead	Planet Madush XIV in the Kariash system
38	A Life beneath the Sky	Discoverd 25 new species	25x Creature Pellets Supreme (S-class) Scanning System Upgrade 128x Faecium
39	Mission Control	Commanded a fleet of 8	Salvaged Fleet Fuel Unit Salvaged Fleet Trade Unit Salvaged Fleet Mining Unit Terrifying Sample
40	Deep Sleep Cruise	Reunited with the lost	Singularity Engine plans	After activating Homeworld Repeater return to your ship and pulse until you encounter a Dyson Lens
41	Superluminal	Travelled via wormhole	Chromatic Warp Shielding plans Temporal Warp Computer plans Supreme (S-class) Salvaged Hyperdrive Upgrade Hyperdrive plans
42	Phase 5	Phase 5 Complete	Title: 'The Seeker' Polestar Expedition Decal Plans Polestar Expedition Banner customisation
42	Polestar	Complete expedition phases	Child of Helios Companion Egg

Additional Information[ | ]

Completion of Superluminal task in Phase 5 results in arrival at different end point star systems for travellers. It is unknown how this is determined. The known list that some travellers end the expedition include:
- Xiexie (many travellers)