Get Started With A Star Citizen Free Fly

The Star Citizen Free Fly is currently not available. 

The next Start Citizen Free Fly will start on 26 August 2026 at 1600 UTC (Noon Eastern / 9 AM Pacific in the US). This upcoming Free Fly was announced for this year's Ship Showdown event.

If you want to play Star Citizen, then you first need to set up a free Star Citizen account. The Enlist with Referral page includes detailed instructions for creating a free Star Citizen account with referral code STAR-NTSD-NTKT to unlock the 50000 credit referral bonus. If you set up an account before the Free Fly starts, then you will get a reminder email from the Star Citizen developers when it begins. 

If you want to play Star Citizen before the Free Fly starts, then you need to need to also purchase a starter pack. 

The Pick a Starter Ship page provides a brief summary of common Star Citizen starter pack topics, including our recommended best Star Citizen starter ship and current starter pack discounts. 

Additionally, Star Citizen has a 30-day refund policy, so you can get a refund during that period if you do not enjoy playing Star Citizen after purchasing a starter pack. Full refund policy terms and conditions are available on the official RSI website. 

A Star Citizen Free Fly is the only way to try the game completely for free because Star Citizen does not have a free trial period that is always available. Every Free Fly is a promotion that allows all players to play the game for no cost as long as they have a free Star Citizen account. There are usually 4 to 5 Free Fly events throughout the year, and each event is only available for a limited time.

A Star Citizen Free Fly is a limited-time event where all players with a Star Citizen account can play Star Citizen for free. A Star Citizen Free Fly happens a few times throughout the year, and each Star Citizen Free Fly is typically 7-10 days in duration. You do not need a starter pack or starter ship to play during a Star Citizen Free Fly because a selection of ships are provided for free to all players to use during each Star Citizen Free Fly.

When the Star Citizen Free Fly ends, you will not be able to continue to play the game unless you have a starter pack. Any progress that you make during the Star Citizen Free Fly will be saved until a wipe is performed.

Yes! You can participate in as many Star Citizen Free Fly events as you like without ever needing to purchase a Star Citizen starter pack.

A Star Citizen Free Fly is not on a set schedule throughout the year, but these other events usually have a Star Citizen Free Fly associated with them:

• Invictus Launch Week (ILW) in mid-to-late May - replaced by Defensecon for 2026
• Foundation Festival in early July
• Ship Showdown in late August-to-early September
• Intergalactic Aerospace Expo (IAE) in mid-to-late November

The next Star Citizen Free Fly starts on 26 August 2026 for the Ship Showdown event.

In an unprecedented move, the Star Citizen developers cancelled the Star Citizen Free Fly that was supposed to start when Red Festival started on 28 January 2025. Stability and performance issues with Star Citizen 4.0.1 were the reasons for why the Star Citizen Free Fly was cancelled.