Today, one of the biggest events of the year started in the space simulator Star Citizen, the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2956.
IAE is an event that showcases the game’s ship brands, not only allowing everyone to play the game for free for two weeks, but also to enjoy every flyable ship and vehicle, and there are over 200 available.
To participate, all you need to do is create an account without any purchase required, and download the client.
The event starts today and ends on November 27.
Speaking of dates, the “2956” year is not random. Star Citizen’s timeline moves in real-time in parallel with the real world, 930 years in the future.
Incidentally, today we also get to witness the return of a legend, Galactic Gear presented by Star Citizen’s very own version of Jeremy Clarkson, Jax McCleary.
You can see him in action below as he introduces the brand-new RSI Galaxy.
Here’s a list of the days that will mark the start of the featured time for each brand, on top of the new ships that will go on sale.
- November 13 – Roberts Space Industries (RSI): RSI Galaxy and RSI Skylark, previously available as a companion ship with the Constellation Mk V, will also be available for purchase as a standalone ship for the first time
- November 15 – Anvil Aerospace: Anvil Liberator
- November 17 – Drake Interplanetary: Drake Marauder
- November 21 – Aopoa, Banu, Esperia and Gatac: Gatac Hyun
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 recently passed one billion dollars, and it’s currently sitting at $1,064,024,973. The game currently has 6,759,199 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 like the one starting today.
It’s notable that Star Citizen’s funding tally for 2025 has beaten all records from previous years by a large margin. 2026 is well on its way to doing it again.
A single-player campaign titled Squadron 42 is also in active development with a recently announced Q2 2027 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. You can also enjoy some recent gameplay.
Full disclosure: the author of this article has backed Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign.
