No Man's Sky: How to Complete Expedition Phase 1

To complete Expedition Phase 1 in No Man's Sky, you must stabilize your environmental hazard protection, repair your scanner and starship, complete the initial planetary milestone objectives, and warp along the Expedition Route to Rendezvous 1.

Stabilize Immediate Survival

Expeditions typically start on a world with harsh environmental hazards, such as toxic storms, freezing cold, or radiation. Because your starting inventory is restricted, secure basic life support before pursuing distant waypoints:

Find shelter: Look for nearby caves, rock overhangs, or hollow terrain. Standing inside natural shelter stops hazard drain entirely without spending resources.
Gather Sodium: Harvest glowing yellow plants across the surface to recharge your Hazard Protection suit module.
Gather Oxygen: Harvest glowing red plants to keep your Life Support system powered.

Repair the Analysis Visor and Scanner

You cannot see your starship marker or track objectives without restoring your Multi-Tool's scanning functions.

Mine Ferrite Dust: Use your Mining Beam on small rocks and ground formations.
Harvest Carbon: Cut down plants and trees to stockpile Carbon, which recharges your Mining Beam.
Craft Carbon Nanotubes: Open your inventory and craft Carbon Nanotubes from your gathered Carbon.
Install the repairs: Repair the Scanner and Analysis Visor in your Multi-Tool inventory.

Once operational, the Analysis Visor reveals the distance and direction of your stranded starship. As you travel toward the ship, gather Di-hydrogen crystals, Cobalt, and Copper along the way to avoid backtracking later.

Repair the Starship

Your stranded starship requires specific components to restore flight capability:

Component	Required Materials	Source
Launch Thruster	Pure Ferrite, Di-hydrogen Jelly	Refine Ferrite Dust in a Portable Refiner; craft jelly from Di-hydrogen crystals
Pulse Engine	Hermetic Seal, Metal Plating	Craft Metal Plating from Ferrite Dust; obtain Hermetic Seal via ship beacon marker
Shields / Hazard	Sodium, Shield Batteries	Harvest yellow flora or craft batteries using Ferrite Dust and Cobalt

Place a Portable Refiner next to the damaged ship to process Pure Ferrite. If you lack a Hermetic Seal, interact with the ship's distress beacon to receive a waypoint leading to a nearby outpost or shelter containing the item or its blueprint.

Complete Surface Milestones Before Takeoff

Before leaving the atmosphere, check the Expedition tab in the pause menu to review and claim planet-bound milestones:

Scan local wildlife, plants, and minerals: Use your repaired Analysis Visor to hit target scanning quotas, which directly award Nanites.
Excavate technology: Use the Terrain Manipulator to dig up Buried Technology Modules.
Claim milestone rewards: Open the Expedition menu to collect pre-packaged rewards, such as Hyperdrive modules, mining beam upgrades, inventory expansions, and Warp Cells. Install these upgrades immediately while grounded to boost your jump range and ship defenses.

Reach the Rendezvous 1 System

Once your starship is flight-ready and planetary milestones are claimed, take off into space to finish the phase:

Mine asteroid fields: Shoot nearby asteroids to collect Tritium for Pulse Engine fuel and Gold.
Open the Galaxy Map: Switch your navigation filter to the green "Expedition Route" path.
Warp to Rendezvous 1: Make the necessary hyperspace jumps toward the highlighted destination system.
Complete the phase: Land at the designated planetary coordinate marker or the local Space Station in the Rendezvous 1 system to register the final Phase 1 milestone.