ExplorationActivity Guide

Exploration is the act of going where the data isn't and bringing it back. There are 400 billion systems in the galaxy and the overwhelming majority have never been visited — every one you scan first carries your name when it's sold. The role spans everything from a quick out-and-back near the Bubble to months-long expeditions to the galactic core.

The minute-to-minute loop is the same wherever you are:

1. Jump

   Plot a route, jump, arrive.

2. Scoop & honk

   Refuel on the star, discovery-scan.

3. FSS & map

   Resolve bodies, probe the good ones.

4. Sample & sell

   Land for exobiology, bank it home.

Unlike combat, almost nothing out here is trying to kill you — the dangers are self-inflicted: running out of fuel, cooking yourself on a star, or pancaking an SRV into a mountain. The reward is the inverse of combat's adrenaline: it is the most contemplative, self-paced role in Elite, and the only one where the prize is sometimes simply being the first human to see something.

Five systems carry the whole role. Master the scanner suite and the fuel/heat discipline and the galaxy is open to you.

Jumping & fuel

Your jump range is the master stat — it decides how far each hop reaches and how quickly you cross empty space. You refuel by fuel-scooping the corona of a main-sequence star; the scoopable classes are K, G, B, F, O, A, M (mnemonic: "KGB FOAM"). Arrive too fast or dive too deep and you overheat. Always check the system's arrival star is scoopable before you commit to a long route.

The scanner suite

• Discovery Scanner ("the honk") — one press on arrival reveals how many bodies the system holds and roughly where.
• FSS (Full Spectrum System Scanner) — tune in each signal to fully scan a body for cartographic data and to flag geological/biological signals worth a closer look.
• DSS (Detailed Surface Scanner) — fire probes at a body to map it. Mapping pays a large bonus on top of the scan, banks the first-mapped tag, and pins the exact locations of surface bio/geo signals.

Exobiology (the Odyssey earner)

On airless and thin-atmosphere worlds, DSS-flagged biological signals can be scanned on foot with the Genetic Sampler. Each species needs three samples taken a minimum distance apart, then sold whole at Vista Genomics. Rare species — the famous Stratum Tectonicas chief among them — pay millions of credits per sample, and a first-footfall bonus stacks on top. This is now the single most lucrative exploration activity.

Boost jumps & synthesis

Neutron stars let you fly into the blue jet cone to supercharge the FSD for roughly a 4× range jump — the basis of the "neutron highway" used to cross the galaxy fast. White dwarfs give a smaller, riskier boost. You can also synthesise FSD injections (basic/standard/premium "jumponium") from raw materials gathered on planet surfaces for a one-off range boost when a route has a gap.

Planetary ops & survival kit

The venues, from a casual evening out to the great expeditions.

The goal early on is to learn the scan loop and the survival discipline on a short, safe trip before committing to anything long.

1. Fit an explorer

   A long-range hull such as the Asp Explorer — with the biggest fuel scoop you can fit, a DSS, an AFMU, D-rated cores, and no weapons. The Exploration — Ship Comparison page will help you pick an appropriate explorer ship.

2. Learn the loop near home

   Jump out a few systems past the Bubble. On arrival: scoop fuel, honk, then open the FSS and scan every body.

3. Map the good ones

   Switch to the DSS and probe any high-value or bio/geo-flagged body. Watch the first-mapped bonus stack up.

4. Try one exobiology sample

   Land near a DSS bio signal, drop the SRV or step out on foot, and take three Genetic Sampler readings of one species. This is the income engine — get comfortable with it early.

5. Mind fuel and heat

   Never plot a leg you can't refuel on; never dive a fuel scoop so deep you cook. Carry the SRV and AFMU for self-rescue.

6. Come home and sell

   Cash the data bank at any station with Universal Cartographics, and the biology at Vista Genomics. Now you've done the whole role in miniature.

The mid-game is about range, income and reach. Three things change: you engineer the FSD, you start serious exobiology, and you go further from home.

Engineer for range

Take the FSD to G5 at Felicity Farseer with the Mass Manager experimental, bolt on a Guardian FSD Booster, and strip every gram you can. A modest hull with a fully-built drive out-reaches a far more expensive ship that hasn't been engineered.

Make exobiology your income

Learn which worlds carry the valuable species — thin-atmosphere and specific volcanic worlds host the high-payout flora. A single rich planet can hold tens of millions of credits in samples, and a well-chosen survey run rivals any combat or trade income with none of the rebuy risk.

Go further

• Regional surveys — claim a whole nebula or sector, mapping the rare body types that pay the most.
• The neutron highway — start chaining boost jumps to reach Colonia or the core in a fraction of the normal time.
• Codex hunting — chase first-report entries for phenomena and species as a side objective.

End-game exploration is measured in thousands of light-years and hundreds of millions of credits.

• The great destinations — Sagittarius A* at the galactic centre, Beagle Point at the far rim, the Colonia region, and the named nebulae. Reaching them is its own achievement; the data pays the way.
• Fleet-carrier expeditions — a carrier is a mobile base with repair, restock and a market, turning a months-long trek into a sustainable campaign and a way to cash data in deep space.
• Exobiology grand tours — systematically sampling rare species across many worlds; a long survey can bank a fortune in one sell-off.
• Elite Explorer — the exploration rank climbs toward Elite (and Elite I–V) purely as a by-product of distance and data.
• Codex pioneering — being the genuinely first to log a phenomenon or species; the purest expression of the role.

Full head-to-head ratings, ranges and costs live in the dedicated comparison dossier — this is the shortlist by stage.

Exploration's rewards are slow to arrive but arrive all at once — most of the payoff lands when you finally sell.

• Mass is range. Every kilogram you remove and every grade of FSD you engineer buys reach; strip weapons and over-sized modules without mercy.
• Honk, FSS, then DSS only the good ones. Don't waste probes mapping worthless bodies — map high-value worlds and anything with bio/geo signals.
• Exobiology is the money. If you're exploring for credits, you're really there for the biology — learn the valuable species and the worlds that host them.
• Three samples, spaced out. Each species needs three readings taken a minimum distance apart before it can be sold.
• Never strand yourself. Check the next star is scoopable, keep the SRV and AFMU aboard, and carry synthesis materials for FSD injections across route gaps.
• The flight home is the only real risk. Sell often on long trips — a fleet carrier or a return leg with a full data bank is the one place exploration can lose you a fortune.
• Engineer the module, not the ship. The engineered FSD and booster move with you across your other roles — exploration spend is portable.