Refuelling: get home under your own steam

Two tanks. Two jobs.

Open the refuelling controls. Keep them beside the game while you practise.

Our suggestion: make fuel part of every departure check. “Enough to get there” is only half a plan. Keep a sensible margin for a missed approach, a detour or the crew discovering one more thing to investigate.

The normal station top-up

1. Find a location with services. Request landing from ATC where required, then use the assigned pad or hangar.
2. Land and stay in the pilot seat. Open mobiGlas with F1 and choose Landing Services.
3. Choose what you need. Hydrogen and quantum fuel are separate. Repair and restock are separate services too.
4. Read the quote and confirm. Give the service time to finish, then check the actual fuel and ammunition readings.

You don’t need a tanker for an ordinary station fill. You need to be properly landed somewhere that offers the service. The first-flight guide covers getting into the hangar without removing the wings.

Landed, but the services are missing?

This is a documented Alpha 4.10.3 issue. RSI says the app can be slow to register a landing. Allow several minutes, wait for the hangar doors to close where applicable, then close and reopen Landing Services.

Try that before changing half your controls. If it still doesn’t appear, check the current known-issues page. We’re not going to pretend there’s a guaranteed ritual involving the landing gear, three backflips and a sacrifice to the ASOP terminal.

Getting fuel from another ship

A suitable tanker can supply hydrogen, quantum fuel or both. Starfarer and Starlite are documented refuelling ships. Tell the operator what you need and agree the price before approaching.

1. Agree the approach. Let the tanker pilot settle the ship and confirm they are ready.
2. Target the tanker. The reference control is T, then Right Alt + N to request docking.
3. Follow the docking cues. Wait for acceptance and align as instructed. Don’t confuse docking with the left-Alt landing shortcut.
4. Request the fuel. Once connected, use the services interface. Check the requested amount and price with the operator.
5. Check completion. Confirm your fuel level and that transfer has stopped before following the undocking prompt.

Our practice session would use a friendly tanker and a small top-up first. Learn the approach without also having your entire evening balanced on the last teaspoon of fuel.

Running the tanker side

Stock the fuel pods before leaving. Each pod holds one fuel type. At the refuelling controls, prepare the boom, accept the incoming request and set the fuel price.

Choose the supplying pod, open it and the nozzle, then increase flow carefully. Pushing flow too hard can waste fuel or damage the nozzle. Close the nozzle or stop the pod when the transfer is complete.

Those are the core steps in CIG’s original Starfarer walkthrough, checked against the community refuelling reference. The exact console and seating arrangement depend on your ship; learn that interface before taking a customer.

MSI’s suggested callouts are deliberately boring: “docked”, “requested”, “flowing”, “stopped”, “clear to leave”. Save the sales pitch for Tom. He’ll insist it comes with an en-suite.

A quick check before either ship moves

If a request, price or flow reading looks wrong, stop and talk it through. You can repeat a small test. Untangling two impatient ships is more work.