I touched down on a speck of rock the size of my apartment, and the ship’s comms fizzed out. The asteroid felt like a postage stamp in a galactic mailbox as I hovered, blueprint trembling in my gloved hand. You have a handful of seconds to press the Deep Space Base Computer into the surface and make that patch of sky yours.
How to build your Orbital Base in deep space in No Man’s Sky
On the bridge of an interstellar freighter, the Star Chart now reads like a pilot’s checklist rather than a blank stare at infinity.
I’ll walk you through what I do when I claim an asteroid: the map tricks I use, the exact parts you’ll want in your inventory, and the little habits that stop a promising base from becoming a sad silhouette in orbit. You’ll move from spotting a candidate to standing on it with a functioning base computer—fast.
How do I find and claim a habitable asteroid?
Open the Star Chart from your ship. Since the Cosmos update the map exposes far more points of interest—habitable asteroids are flagged directly. I scan systems for those icons, then zero in until the “land” prompt appears.
When you’re within range, exit your ship and approach the rock. If the patch is claimable the Deep Space Base Computer will appear in your build menu. Press it into the surface and the asteroid becomes your Orbital Base.
What materials do I need for the Deep Space Base Computer?
The blueprint requires three components: a Reactor Core, a Viral Heart, and Condensed Stellar Ice. Keep those in your quick inventory before you hunt asteroids; nothing slows a claim like running back to your freighter.
Where to find them: Reactor Cores come from ship salvage and manufacturing stations, Viral Hearts are often tied to exotic flora or special drops in volatile systems, and Condensed Stellar Ice shows up on cold bodies and frozen asteroid belts. If you play on Steam, PlayStation, or Xbox, community guides on platforms like Nexus or Reddit often list spawn tips.
Build the Deep Space Base Computer, land on the asteroid, and place it. That single terminal is the founding pillar for that orbital base; you’ll need another terminal for each additional asteroid you want to own.
Can I build multiple orbital bases and claim a Space Station?
I’ve claimed five orbital bases across different systems to test load and layout. Yes—you can hold multiple bases, but each requires its own Deep Space Base Computer and resources. Think of each claim like a separate property title in your galactic portfolio.
As part of Cosmos you can also claim a Space Station and redesign it; claiming opens alliance options so you and other players can form a group and coordinate bases. That’s where the game shifts toward social design: alliances let you share a visual identity and some cooperative features across your stations.
You can build freely on an asteroid once claimed: place rooms, modules, storage and decorative items. Use your terrain tools to clear debris and expand flat areas—the construction still follows the same base-building physics, but now with more vertical options. Building modules on a drifting asteroid can feel like stacking LEGO on a cathedral that refuses to sit still.
Small practical notes from my minutes in orbit: keep an emergency stash of build materials in your ship, mark your claimed asteroids in the Star Chart for fast jumps, and test your base layout with a minimal power grid before you add luxury modules. Hello Games has been tuning the experience across PC and consoles; community tools and trackers on Steam/community hubs will speed up your hunts for rare components.
Are orbital bases the start of player-run empires or just a flashy badge in someone else’s screenshot?