No Man’s Sky: How to Repair Your Ship’s Launch Thrusters at the Start of the Game

First Quest – No Man’s Sky

First off, it’s important to keep in mind that everyone starts off on a different planet in No Man’s Sky. While I was fortunate enough to find some Iron, Carbon, and Plutonium near my location, that may not be the case for everyone. That said, there are a few things you can do to make your life easier.

The game gives you your first objective right off the bat: fix your Launch Thrusters and Pulse Drive so you can get off the planet you’re on. The first thing you’re gonna want to do is fix your scanner. If you open up your inventory menu and tab over to the Multi-tool, you’ll find a list of the resources you need to fix it. Once you’ve done that, simply use the scanner to scan your local environment to see the types of resources near you.

The red resources are materials for charging up your devices, and you’ll want to grab those for charging your technology and as fuel for your ship. Be sure to pick up as many red resources as you can – you can never have too much of these.

Yellow plants are an indicator of Zinc, which is a resource you need to repair your ship. Grab some Carbon and Iron along the way too, as these can be used to craft the carmite sheet. Heridium is a little harder to find, but it should show up as a blue icon on your scanner. It looks like a large black column of rock, and all you have to do is mine it until you get what you need.

Lastly, keep an eye out for red crystals on the ground. This is your source of Plutonium, and you’ll need it to fuel your ship. Try to save the Plutonium for your Launch Thrusters, and charge the rest of your tech with more common resources like Thamium9 or Carbon.