Starfield offers players a vast open world to explore, with hundreds of planets across dozens of star systems. As you journey through this expansive universe, you‘ll collect resources, gather loot from enemies, and obtain valuable crafting materials. All of these items take up precious cargo space on your ship. Upgrading your ship‘s storage capacity is crucial for deep space expeditions and hauling the most valuable loot. This guide covers everything you need to know about ship storage in Starfield.
What is Ship Storage?
Every ship in Starfield has a cargo hold for storing items. This storage capacity is measured in cargo units. As you gather items, your used cargo space will increase. Once it hits the ship‘s maximum capacity, you cannot pick up any more items until you free up room.
On most starter ships, storage capacity is quite limited, often less than 100 cargo units. This fills up fast, forcing difficult decisions about what to keep or leave behind. Upgrading to larger hauler ships or upgrading storage mods on existing ships allows you to carry far more, over 1000 cargo units on some late game vessels.
Viewing and Managing Storage
You can view your current ship‘s storage usage and contents at any time by bringing up the quick menu and selecting the Cargo Hold option. This shows all items on your ship neatly categorized for easy reference. From here you can:
- Transfer items to your personal inventory
- Discard unneeded items to free up capacity
- Quickly store all items from your inventory if cargo space allows
- Inspect items for crafting potential
Keeping an eye on your remaining cargo space is key before pilfering crash sites or engaging in ship battles. There‘s nothing worse than destroying an elite enemy ship, only to find you have insufficient room for all the epic loot items they drop!
Upgrade Strategies for Maximizing Space
While discarding unneeded junk can help temporarily, maximizing your cargo capacity mid to late game is essential. There are three main ways to upgrade:
1. Purchase Larger Ships
As you progress, increasingly large hauler ships become available from ship dealers and faction vendors. These dedicated freighters offer massive cargo bays surpassing 1000+ storage units. They come at a hefty cost, often 1 million credits or more, but the investment is well worth it for deep space mining ops or trading runs.
Some of the top haulers include:
- The Sagan ZR5 ‘Minotaur‘ – 1200 Max Storage
- The Javelin XL490 ‘Harbinger‘ – 1290 Max Storage
- The Reliant MK4 ‘Albatross‘ – Whopping 1450 Max Storage
Just be prepared to sacrifice speed, handling, weapon slots, and other features to accommodate these massive cargo bays.
I recommend saving up for the Minotaur or Harbinger as mid-game goal ships once you have established factions and consistent credit flow. This opens exciting avenues for storage-focused play.
2. Install Cargo Storage Mods
Without buying an expensive dedicated freighter, storage mods help increase capacity on existing ships. Three main types are available:
Cargo Hold Mods – These hull mods directly increase storage, available in sizes from 100 to over 1000 extra units.
Cockpit Mods – Later tier pilot cockpits often include up to 300 bonus storage units.
Cargo Rack Mods – External racks for smaller capacity boosts up to 400 extra units.
Swapping these onto existing ships via the ship builder menu is cheaper than new vessels. Install as many mods as power, hull weight, and component slots allow! My shield focused interceptor build squeezed on 2 storage mods for 750 extra units.
Combining a high-end cockpit (300 unit boost) with 2-3 stacked cargo mods (600+ units) works wonders without needing a freighter. This opens access to storage focused play far earlier.
3. Unlock Perks
Certain perks from factions and skill trees provide percentage increases to ship storage. These boost your base capacity globally. For example, the Freestar Collective‘s "Pack Mule" perk gives +15% cargo space. Combined with mods, this really piles on the potential storage.
I suggest joining Freestar early to start benefiting from Pack Mule quickly. 15% seems small, but it adds up big when you already have 500+ baseline storage. Other factions with useful boosts include The Leauge of Vanguard Commanders (+10% Storage) and Bonelab (+5% Storage).
Optimal Ship Classes for Hauling
With all these upgrades unlocked, what is the ideal ship for serious interstellar hauling operations? While gigantic freighters seem ideal, increased speeds and defenses on other classes provide key advantages:
Interceptor Class – Extreme speed and handling to escape pirates after loaded with valuables. Low base storage mitigated by mods.
Scout Class – Fast enough to dart between loot spots before others arrive. Better weapon coverage to fend off attacks.
Freighter Class – The standard for raw hauling capacity at the expense of speed and defense. Need guards to fend off constant attacks.
For early traders, I love the Scout approach – install max Storage, Shield, and Engine mods on a mid-tier explorer Scout hull. You keep great speed and combat ability with ample boosted cargo room of 700+ units.
Late game allows pursuing a Freighter Class behemoth like the Albatross for unrivaled capacity at the expense of luxury additions. Recruit squadmates in tough bombers to keep you safe!
Comparing Storage Stats on Mods and Perks
When customizing existing ships for storage, keep these capability comparisons handy for the various options:
Cargo Hold Modules
| Name | Added Storage | Shipbuilder Req. |
|---|---|---|
| Galleon S204 | 1480 | Rank 3 |
| 40T Hauler | 1270 | Rank 3 |
| Galleon S203 | 1200 | Rank 2 |
| 30T Hauler | 1000 | Rank 2 |
| Galleon S202 | 950 | Rank 1 |
Cockpit Modules
| Name | Added Storage | Shipbuilder Req. |
|---|---|---|
| DS20.3 Phobos | 280 | Rank 1 |
| Magellan C2X | 260 | none |
| DS20.2 Phobos | 260 | none |
Faction Perks
| Faction | Perk | Storage Boost |
|---|---|---|
| Freestar Collective | Pack Mule | +15% |
| The League of Vanguard Commanders | Stash | +10% |
| Bonelab | Hoarder | +5% |
Review requirements before installing modules. Plan your desired boosts and pick factions wisely to maximize cumulative bonuses!
Inventory Management by Storage Tiers
Your approach to inventory management evolves dramatically across these rough cargo capacity thresholds as you upgrade ships:
50-150 Storage
Extremely tight even early on. No room for non-essentials.
Focus on:
- Mission critical items only
- Essential crafting materials
- Valuables for quick credit dumps
300-600 Storage
Comfortable mid-game room. Space for some commodities and loot hauling.
Focus on:
- Wider range of crafting materials
- Intact early & mid game weapon loot
- Collectibles and luxuries for profitable sales
1000+ Storage
True interstellar trading empire! Hoard it all.
Focus on:
- All crafting materials in bulk
- All intact weapon & gear drops
- High value oddities & alien collectibles
Case Study: My 1500 Unit Megahauler Loadout
By end game, I piloted a specialized Reliant MK4 Albatross Freighter tuned for max profits trading across the galaxy. With the 1450 base capacity expanded via perks and mods, my total cargo reached insane levels:
Upgrades:
- +15% Bonelab Hoarder Perk
- +300 Storage Cockpit Module
- 2 x Galleon 1480 Hold Modules
Total Cargo Capacity: 1,903 Storage Units
I departed the New Atlantis shipyards with holds loaded with:
- 432 Iron Ore
- 340 Lead Ore
- 165 Gold Ore
- 96 Gadolinium Chunks
- 61 Nickel Ingots
- 53 Raw Diamond Chunks
- 38 Vox Arrays
- 92 Intact Plasma Cannons (for scrapping)
- 24 Luxury Zero G Throlos Spa Robes (hot sellers!)
Plus miscellaneous food, water, and medical supplies for my crew.
This mammoth load would allow me to corner the market on key industrial metals in fringe systems untouched by the major mining corps. And provide long term crafting stock for top tier ship & weapon components.
The exotic luxury robes alone could fund buying another freighter at the astronomical prices wealthy Eridanos resort patrons would pay! Risky maneuvering through the fringes and keeping ahead of bloodthirsty pirates was the only challenge left. My ace piloting skills and lethal bomber escort squad were more than ready to handle it.
This dream haul run cemented my trading empire and ability to bankroll any future expeditions on a whim! So chase the cargo capacity dragon – with some patience and luck, this could be you!
Final Ship Storage Considerations
With massive investments into ship storage, you now have flexibility to carry whatever grabs your attention across the cosmos. But greed still has its limits.
If you overload far beyond recommended capacity, expect sluggish ship handling. Excessively heavy vessels may burn out engines quicker too.
Prioritize the most valuable, mission essential, or crafting critical pieces first when loot hauling. Leave behind common materials found anywhere easily.
Even the biggest cargo holds have their limits. But with these ship storage upgrades, you can rest assured those precious item slots are no longer wasted! Seize your destiny as the richest trader in the settled systems!
