How to dock in Starfield

Whether you want to dock at Deimos or board an enemy ship, here's how to do it in Starfield

If you’re not following the main quests in Starfield, there’s a good chance you’ve come upon a space station without ever getting the tutorial for how to dock at one. So if you’re wondering how to dock with a station or with an enemy ship, we’ve got you covered.

Starfield: how to dock with space stations

A close up look at the docking cutscene in Starfield. 

Docking in Starfield is a simple case of getting a UI element to appear.

• Simply lock onto what you want to dock with (A on an Xbox controller).
• Get within 500m of the place you want to dock with. 
• Next, hold the button to dock, which is X by default (or E on the keyboard).

Unlike other space games such as Elite: Dangerous, docking is automated here so a short cutscene will play as your ship docks with the station. The only way you can crash is if you fly your ship directly at the station before hitting the docking prompt. Don’t do that.

Many stations can also be hailed by holding A after you’ve locked on. This will give you an indication of whether the station or ship is manned or abandoned, friendly or hostile.

So whether you’re partaking in a bit of piracy or you just want to dock at Deimos and get some fancy ship parts, that’s how you dock in Bethesda’s Starfield.

If you’re not sold on it yet, check out our Starfield review. We also have more space goodness with our Starfield ship customization guide. 

And because docking isn't the only vague mechanic, here's how to set up cargo links in Starfield. If you want more, our Starfield walkthrough has you covered.