Starfield: Shipping & Delivery
3 steps to earn 50-75.000(c) in 6 minutes or less.
This is an independently created guide based on gameplay experience, which may contain spoilers about an available side quest and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Bethesda, the creators of Starfield.
Step 1: Collect The Contracts
Referred to in-game as Dry Dock Blues missions, delivery contracts are available from these 5 manufacturers: HopeTech, Stroud-Eklund, Deimos, Taiyo Astroneering, and Trident Luxury Lines.
To gain access to these contracts, you will first need to do the following:
- Deimos contracts are first accessed by visiting the Deimos sales computer in the Deimos Staryard located in orbit of Deimos, a moon of Mars in the Sol system. Click on Deimos Delivery Opportunities, then follow the provided information.
- HopeTech contracts require you to visit the HopeTech sales counter on the first floor of the HopeTech building located in Hopetown, on Polvo in the Valo system. Valo is the secondary option after selecting the Narion system on the Starmap.
- Stroud-Eklund contracts are first accessed by visiting the Stroud-Eklund sales computer in the Stroud-Eklund staryard located in orbit of Dalvik, a moon of Deepala, in the Narion system. Open the file Stroud-Eklund Delivery Contracts, then follow the provided information.
- For Taiyo Astroneering contracts, use the Taiyo sales computer on the Taiyo Astroneering floor of Ryujin Tower, located in Neon Core on Volii Alpha, in the Volii system. Open the file “Taiyo needs you!” and follow the provided directions.
- For Trident Luxury Lines contracts, visit the sales computer and follow the prompts provided, or go straight to the sales rep seated at the first desk on the Trident Luxury Lines Staryard, located in the orbit of Akila in the Cheyenne system.
If you exit the location without accepting the first delivery contract provided. You will be required to repeat the starting process for that manufacturer.
Delivery contracts come in three sizes: small at 500 units, medium at 2000 units, and large at 5000 units, with all manufacturers paying a mandated rate for bulk resource deliveries of 2 credits per unit.
Each manufacturer will only provide a single contract at a time. Yet, you can visit and accept contracts from all five manufacturers first, then collectively mine the requested resources.
Step 2: Source The Resources
The minimum you will need for a resource mining outpost is an extractor, enough power generators for the extractor, and a storage container. Additionally, a transfer container will allow you to move resources directly to your starship’s cargo hold.
Due to the extensive range of options available depending on your character’s current skills, we have chosen not to include specific instructions for building your outpost.
However, we do recommend using our Outpost Building List to ensure you have everything you need before heading to your chosen outpost location in this and all of your future building endeavors.
For maximum efficiency and profit potential, setting up a dedicated outpost for each of the following resources will set you up for long-term success:
- Aluminum
- Argon
- Chlorine
- Copper
- Iron
- Lead
- Nickel
- Uranium
With each of these being common resources, they can all be found on a multitude of planets in the majority of star systems, even Alpha Centauri. Providing the opportunity to set up an entire shipping network without scouring the Settled Systems in search of choice locations or the Planetary Habitation skill.
Should you choose to base your operation in Alpha Centauri, the civilian outpost on Chawla generally stocks everything you will need to build your outposts and has a stock refresh time of only 3 local hours.
Step 3: Complete The Deliveries
While manufacturers will accept partial shipments, you will only receive payment for the amount of resources delivered at that time. The remaining amount needed to be delivered will be reflected in the mission menu.
Delivering the entire shipment in a single load will often result in a 50% bonus, increasing the total payout to 3 credits per unit. Contract invoices will expire if the delivery is not completed in full within three solar years.
After completing a delivery, each manufacturer’s contracts can be refreshed immediately by doing one of the following:
- For staryards, board your starship, re-board the staryard, and return to the designated contact.
- For Taiyo Astroneering, take the elevator to any other floor and then return to Vern Sobakin in the Taiyo Astroneering Store.
- For HopeTech, exit through the main doors, then walk back in and return to the sales counter.
Now that you have the intel you need to get your shipping operation off the ground, here are a few tips that will help take your profits to the stratosphere:
- You must be within 500 meters of a staryard for the dock option to become available.
- If you would like a different contract than what a manufacturer currently offers, choose the “Maybe another time” option and follow the directions in the previous section to update the available contract.
- While uranium is listed as a possible delivery contract resource, we have yet to receive an invoice for it in over 100+ deliveries.
- Waiting or sleeping on a planet with a larger UT (universal time) to local time ratio will allow you to fill storage containers quickly. For example, 1 local hour on Chawla equals 16 hours and 26 minutes UT. So, waiting or sleeping for 3 local hours there will pass 49 hours and 19 minutes UT.
- Cargo space on your starship is shown in kilograms. At the same time, contracts and storage containers are calculated by unit, and each resource has different weights per unit.
- We have found that small storage containers typically hold about 100–150 units of each resource listed, medium containers 200–300, and large containers 400–600.
- For those unable to or choose not to set up a dedicated outpost for each resource, building, operating, and then removing an outpost with full storage containers will move all resources into the cargo hold of your starship, including the resources used to build the outpost. Any overflow will go into your inventory.
- If you are short on cargo space, store the resource from the storage container straight into your inventory. Keep in mind that manufacturers will only take resources that are in your starship’s cargo hold to fulfill contracts. But you can transfer resources from your inventory to the cargo hold while standing at the delivery point on Staryards and still have the chance to receive the bonus pay.
We hope you enjoy using these 3 simple steps to make 50-75,000(c) in 6 minutes or less from shipping and delivering resources in the Settled Systems!
