Cloud Imperium Games revealed a new ship for Star Citizen that is actually the successor of a classic, the Aurora MK II.
There’s no Star Citizen player who doesn’t know what the RSI Aurora is, as it’s the very first starter ship introduced for the game, all the way back when the crowdfunding started.
When we first pledged for Star Citizen thirteen years ago, those of us who pledged at the lowest levels got an Aurora, so it’s one of the most widespread ships in the game’s universe.
The Aurora MK II is certainly a rather big evolution for the original Aurora, with a sleeker design, variable geometry wings, and a clear influence from the Zeus.
It will be introduced later this week with the Alpha 4.7 update.
You can check it out in the trailer below.
If you’re unfamiliar with Star Citizen, it’s a PC exclusive, crowdfunded project directed by Chris Roberts of Wing Commander fame. It’s a multiplayer sandbox space simulator that has been in development for over a decade and in alpha for several years.
The crowdfunding total for the game has almost reached $952 million, and it’s currently sitting at $951,848,318. The game currently has 6,373,611 registered accounts, but we know that not all are paying customers.
Some are alt accounts, while others are simply created to enjoy the “Free Fly” periods that fairly often let non-backers enjoy the game at no cost.
It’s notable that Star Citizen’s funding tally for 2025 has beaten all records from previous years by a large margin.
A single-player campaign titled Squadron 42 is also in active development with a 2026 release window, starring an exceptional cast of famous actors, including Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Liam Cunningham, Gillian Anderson, and more.
Since the project has been in development for over a decade, you can see how Squadron 42 has evolved since its first reveal.
Full disclosure: the author of this article has backed Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign.
