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IAE 2956 (IAE 2026): Dates, ships and how to join the Free Fly

Not announced yet (checked ). RSI hasn’t confirmed dates or a Free Fly for IAE 2956; going by past years, it is expected in November 2026.

IAE, the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo, is Star Citizen’s yearly ship show, and in 2024 and 2025 it was also the longest Free Fly of the year. As of , four Free Flies this year have been open to new players: Coramor, Captains of Industry, DefenseCon and Foundation Festival. A fifth, Ship Showdown, was for existing backers only. This page tracks what’s known about IAE 2956, what past expos offered and what you can set up before it starts.

IAE 2955 key art: a disc-shaped expo platform floating above orange clouds, with the IAE 2955 logo across it
Fig. 01Key art from RSI’s IAE 2955 “Save the Date”, November 2025 · Image: Cloud Imperium Games / RSI

IAE 2956 at a glance

As of

Status
not announced by RSI.
Expected
November 2026, going by past years.
Free Fly
not confirmed. IAE 2954 and IAE 2955 both had one.
Recent starts
and .
Length
14 days in both years, counted inclusively.
Save the Date
posted and , about two weeks before each start.

When is IAE 2956?

As of , RSI hasn’t announced IAE 2956 dates or a Free Fly. Going by past years, it is expected in November 2026.

Both recent expos opened in the second half of November and ran into early December, and RSI posted a “Save the Date” about two weeks before each one. Fan sites have also reported a November 13 start, based on leaked game files; RSI hasn’t confirmed that or any other date, so treat it as a rumor until RSI posts. When the 2026 post goes up, this page will show RSI’s dates and times in UTC, with a link to the announcement. Our schedule lists every past Free Fly date, not only IAE.

Past IAE Free Flies

Past IAE Free Flies: dates, length, when RSI posted the Save the Date, and sources
IAEFree Fly datesDaysSave the DateSource
IAE 2954 (2024) – 14Press release · Spectrum post
IAE 2955 (2025) – 14Comm-Link 20861 · Spectrum post

Will IAE 2956 have a Free Fly?

Not confirmed. IAE 2954 and IAE 2955 both included one. For the 2024 expo, CIG’s press release offered “free access to download, play and fly over 150 ships” during the event. For 2025, RSI’s Comm-Link said that while the expo ran, “even if you don’t have a Star Citizen Game Package, you can try it for free…” RSI hasn’t said anything yet about a Free Fly at IAE 2956, and nothing is official until RSI posts it.

What is IAE?

IAE is the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo, Star Citizen’s in-game ship show, held each year in November. In 2025 it was hosted in Orison, the floating city on the planet Crusader. For the first nine days, a different group of ship manufacturers was in the spotlight each day; then came a Best in Show day for test-flying the finalists, and a four-day finale with every ship from the earlier days.

For players it is also the biggest Free Fly of the year. IAE 2954 and IAE 2955 each ran 14 days, the longest of any recent Free Fly, and offered far more ships than the smaller events, some of which have featured a fixed set of five or six.

Is IAE 2956 the same as IAE 2026?

Yes. The game’s calendar runs 930 years ahead of ours. IAE 2955 was held in November 2025, so IAE 2956 is the November 2026 expo.

Which ships can you fly at IAE 2956?

A white Crusader Intrepid parked on a landing pad at sunset under blossoming trees, with a pilot walking to its boarding steps
Fig. 02The Crusader Intrepid, the ship CIG loaned to every player for IAE 2955 · RSI store image · Image: Cloud Imperium Games / RSI

Not announced yet. RSI lists each event’s ships in its announcement, and this page will add the IAE 2956 list from RSI’s post, day by day.

The last two expos give a sense of the scale:

  • IAE 2955 (2025). CIG loaned every player a Crusader Intrepid “for free for the duration of the event”, and free rentals unlocked by manufacturer, one group per day. PCGamesN counted “nearly 200” ships to try.
  • IAE 2954 (2024). CIG’s press release headline began “Play Star Citizen and Fly Over 150 Ships for Free During IAE 2954 from Nov. 22 - Dec. 5”.

Ships added to your account for an event leave it when the event ends. Anything you buy stays.

What’s the headline ship?

The RSI Galaxy, according to developers on the Star Citizen Live livestream “Lots of Ship Talk”, as reported by the fan site The Impound in November 2025; as of October 2026 we haven’t seen it confirmed in an RSI post. Plans made a year ahead can change.

How to get ready before IAE 2956 starts

Most of the setup doesn’t depend on the dates, so you can do it now.

  1. Create a free RSI account at robertsspaceindustries.com/enlist (opens RSI in a new tab). Other players see the handle you pick, so choose it with care, and turn on two-step authentication.

  2. Install the RSI Launcher from robertsspaceindustries.com/download, RSI’s own download page; don’t get it from any other site. Our walkthrough shows how to install Star Citizen before IAE.

  3. Free 150+ GB on an SSD. That’s RSI’s requirement; a hard drive isn’t enough.

  4. Check your PC against RSI’s minimum specs: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), 16 GB of RAM, a CPU that supports AVX, AVX2 and FMA3, and a graphics card with at least 4 GB of VRAM whose driver supports Direct3D 11.1 and Vulkan 1.2.

  5. Read up on your first session. The beginner’s guide covers what to do in your first session, from your hab to your first landing.

Leave time for the download

It isn’t confirmed whether the game itself will download before an event opens, so leave time for a large download: about 80–120 GB, by the fan site StarCitizenHelp’s estimate.

When does IAE 2956 end?

To be announced. RSI gives the end date along with the start, and this page will then show the time free play stops, in UTC. The last two expos ended on and , after 14 days each.

Could IAE 2956 start late?

Yes, it has happened. DefenseCon 2956’s Free Fly was due to open on , but the Star Citizen Wiki says it was held back until because of performance issues. On the day, go by RSI’s announcement rather than the date alone.

How to play during the Free Fly

Once a Free Fly is live, you sign in to the RSI Launcher with your free account, install or update the game, and launch it. Recent events haven’t needed a code: CIG’s instructions for IAE 2955 were to “create an account, download the game and jump into the fun.” Our home page has the four steps to play during a Free Fly.

Sources

Dates and ship offers come from RSI and CIG posts where they exist. Press and fan sources are named as such. This page is written in our own words.

RSI and CIG

Press and fan sites