Galaxy, Liberator and Kraken: The Latest Development Milestones

A Liberator loaded with fighters, a Galaxy working through a mining haul, a Kraken keeping an entire operation supplied: these ships promise very different ways to take a fleet beyond the nearest station. September brought tangible progress for all three. The Galaxy passed its greybox review, the Liberator finished its greybox work ahead of a formal review, and the Kraken continued detailed work on its transport systems and engineering spaces.

None of those milestones supplies a flight-ready date. They do, however, give owners something more useful than another prediction about which event might unveil their ship: a clearer view of the work happening inside it.

Liberator: the flight deck takes shape

The Anvil Liberator finished greybox work during September, with its formal gate review scheduled for early October. Areas considered safe to advance had already progressed into LOD0, the detailed art phase, which was targeted to wrap up in late October. That overlap explains why one part of a ship can be receiving detailed art while the wider stage is still awaiting review.

The appeal is easy to understand if your favourite small ship cannot comfortably make the journey you want. The Liberator is designed around transporting multiple spacecraft, with upper pads intended for ships such as the Sabre, Hornet, Arrow and Prospector. Its lower garages and forward pad accommodate smaller craft and ground vehicles, including the Nova and Ballista in the original design brief.

Its planned 400 SCU is dedicated internal cargo space, separate from the temptation to stack more equipment wherever it physically fits. Servicing carried ships is intended to be basic and manual, using supplies brought aboard. This is a transport with useful endurance, rather than a substitute for every specialist repair or support ship.

For a small group, that combination could make the journey itself more practical: take the fighters, take the ground vehicles, and carry supplies alongside them. The outstanding question is how the final implementation handles loading, transport and servicing together. Finishing an art stage alone cannot answer it.

Galaxy: the modules remain central

The RSI Galaxy passed its greybox gate review in September. Work then moved through corridor and wall refinement, lighting and signage during LOD0, while development continued on the modules. The update describes progress on both the ship and the equipment that gives its central space a purpose; it does not announce which module will arrive first.

The modular design has some important limits. In the original Q&A, the module depends on the ship for power and cooling, so it cannot be dropped on a planet as an independent facility. Changing one is a job for a suitable service location, with the necessary equipment present, rather than an instant switch during a flight.

The aft hangar is a separate asset: its design allows an XXS craft and 64 SCU in side cargo grids at the same time. A Prospector does not fit that hangar, although the refinery module is designed to receive Prospector and MOLE saddlebags. Those distinctions matter far more to a mining crew than treating the Galaxy as a ship that can simply do everything.

We would watch module progress as closely as the hull. A finished corridor makes the ship easier to navigate; a functioning module determines the work a crew can actually take on. September’s update is encouraging because both are receiving attention, but it supplies no new module capacities or delivery commitments.

Kraken: moving people and equipment through a carrier

The Kraken’s LOD0 work extended across the ship, including lifts, its integrated tram and capital components spread through multiple engineering rooms. Those are substantial parts of making a carrier usable. A ship this large needs more than a spectacular deck: people and supplies must be able to reach the places where they are needed.

The original carrier design gives the tram a practical cargo role, connecting landing-pad access points to the main hold. Refuelling, restocking and repairing visiting ships are intended to draw from the Kraken’s own stores. That makes supply and internal movement part of the carrier’s work, rather than something that happens invisibly whenever another ship lands.

Its planned support role should not be confused with an Idris-style military hull. The original Kraken Q&A describes a less sturdy ship than dedicated military capitals, trading some resilience for Drake’s pragmatic approach. A busy flight deck and a hold full of supplies are compelling reasons to bring one; they are not evidence that it can absorb any fight its escorts leave behind.

The engineering rooms also give this month’s progress a particularly relevant context. With capital components distributed through the ship, the eventual crew experience will depend on access and movement as much as on the bridge view. September confirms work on those spaces, without establishing final crew requirements or proving the carrier’s operating loop is complete.

What October might tell us next

• Liberator: whether the planned early-October review was passed and the late-October LOD0 target was met.
• Galaxy: how the detailed interior and modules progress beyond the completed greybox review.
• Kraken: how the transport and engineering spaces develop alongside the rest of the hull.

These are useful next milestones, not a race with a reliable finishing order. The same monthly report separately mentions unnamed ships approaching final reviews and releases. It does not identify those ships as the Galaxy, Liberator or Kraken, so assigning their schedules to these three would be guesswork.

There is a similar naming trap around the Constellation. The report describes the Constellation Mk IV Gold Standard, with modern material work and interaction improvements across its four variants. It does not announce a Mk V. Owners deserve the actual development news without a new generation being invented around it.

For now, the most interesting distinction is the job each ship is being built to do: the Liberator carries the smaller craft, the Galaxy changes its industrial or support role through modules, and the Kraken sustains a larger operation around its deck and stores. Their progress is worth following on those terms, even without a release date to put in the calendar.

Compare the wider fleet in The Impound’s Ship Matrix, or check the Loaner Matrix when planning what you can fly while a ship remains in development.