Part of the Freighters series:
- Freighters Guide Hub: Start here.
- Freighter Upgrades & S-Class Guide: What you are spending these on.
Quick Answer
- Salvaged Frigate Modules are the currency for the Upgrade Control terminal on your freighter's bridge. Nothing else uses them.
- Seven blueprints sit behind that terminal: six freighter hyperdrive upgrades and the remote inventory access one. Unlocking the lot costs on the order of 70–80 modules.
- Cargo pods outside Outlaw stations are the fastest reliable farm. Scope in from a distance to read pod contents before firing, then only shoot the ones holding modules.
- Nexus missions are the only guaranteed source. Slower per module, but no RNG, and you were probably visiting the Anomaly anyway.
- Derelict freighters pay well if the interior rolls the big chest-type crates rather than the tall lockers.
- Frigate expedition rewards trickle in passively. Industrial missions are the ones that pay modules.
- A crashed freighter site with modules in its open cargo pods will respawn them after several real-world days. Build a base there and it becomes a route.
- Do not buy them. There is no merchant. Anyone telling you to trade for modules is thinking of a different item.
Overview
Most currencies in No Man's Sky can be converted into each other. Units buy nanites indirectly, nanites buy tech, tech sells for units. Salvaged Frigate Modules sit outside that economy entirely: you cannot buy them, refine them, or trade for them, and they buy exactly one category of thing.
That makes them the most frustrating gate in the freighter game. A player with a hundred million units and a fleet of S-class frigates can still be stuck with a base-model freighter hyperdrive because they have eleven modules and need thirty. The only answer is to go and find them.
The good news is that the sources are well understood, and one of them is considerably faster than the rest once you know the trick. Below is every method that actually works, ranked, plus what to unlock first so the early modules do the most good.
What They Are Actually For
Board your freighter and walk to the bridge. Behind and to the side of the navigation panel is the Upgrade Control terminal. It trades modules for blueprints, and it is the only place in the game that accepts them.
The catalogue is small and specific:
| Blueprint type | What it does | Why you care |
|---|---|---|
| Freighter hyperdrive upgrades (six tiers) | Extend the freighter's own warp range | Your freighter warps independently of your ship; range here decides how far the whole fleet moves |
| Remote inventory access | Reach freighter storage from anywhere | Quietly one of the best quality-of-life unlocks in the game |
Unlocking everything runs to roughly seventy to eighty modules. That is a genuine project, not an afternoon.
The remote access unlock deserves special mention, because it is easy to skip past on the way to hyperdrive range and it changes how you play. Being able to pull from freighter storage while standing on a planet turns your freighter from a place you visit into a backpack you carry. The freighter base building guide covers organising that storage so the access is worth having.
Every Source, Ranked
1. Cargo Pods at Outlaw Stations (Fastest)
This is the method that turns a grind into a route, and the trick is that you do not have to shoot anything blind.
Freighters parked in space carry external cargo pods: the boxy containers clamped to their hulls. Shooting one open drops its contents. Most contain junk. Some contain a Salvaged Frigate Module.
The trick: you can read a pod's contents before you fire. Fly close and scope in, and the pod labels itself. That turns a slow shoot-everything-and-hope loop into a fast survey: drift down the hull, scope the pods, shoot only the ones worth opening.
Why Outlaw systems specifically:
- Outlaw stations have plenty of parked freighter traffic outside them, so the pods are clustered rather than scattered.
- Shooting cargo pods in normal systems summons Sentinel interceptors and tanks your standing with the system's controlling race. In pirate space nobody objects.
- Station-hopping between Outlaw systems chains runs without a cooldown to wait out.
The workflow: warp to an Outlaw system, fly to the parked freighters near the station, scope pods, crack the ones with modules, warp on. Ten minutes per system is realistic once you stop shooting everything.
If you do this in ordinary space, expect a fight. The space combat guide covers surviving a Sentinel response, but the simpler answer is to go where nobody is watching.
2. Nexus Missions (Guaranteed, No RNG)
The Nexus board inside the Space Anomaly periodically lists missions that pay a Salvaged Frigate Module as their reward.
The advantage is absolute: once you accept the mission, the module is yours on completion. No pod rolls, no crate lottery. A typical mission runs ten to twenty minutes.
The disadvantage is throughput. You get one module per mission, and the board only offers so many module-paying missions per refresh. This is not a farm you can sit on for an evening.
Treat it as background income rather than a strategy. You are already visiting the Anomaly for nanites and expedition business: check the board while you are there, take anything paying a module, and let them accumulate. The Nexus missions guide covers reading the board efficiently.
3. Derelict Freighters (High Ceiling, Variable Floor)
Derelict freighters are full of containers, and some of them hold modules.
The distinction that matters, and that most advice skips: the big chest-type crates are the ones that pay. The tall, narrow locker-style containers do not. Two derelicts can therefore be worth wildly different amounts, and you know which kind you have within the first corridor.
If you push into a derelict and the interior is all lockers, accept the loot it does offer and do not expect modules. If it is dense with chests, work it thoroughly. Those runs can produce several modules each.
Since you need an Emergency Signal Scanner per derelict anyway, and Helios on the Anomaly hands out one free per week, this is best treated as a bonus on top of a run you were doing for its own rewards rather than a dedicated module farm.
4. Frigate Expeditions (Passive)
Send your own frigate fleet out and modules come back in the reward pile. Industrial expeditions are the ones that pay them.
This costs you nothing but the fuel and a few seconds at the fleet terminal, which makes it the best passive source in the game. It is also slow: a handful of modules a week, not an evening's worth.
The right way to use it is to set the fleet running before you log off, every time, weighted towards industrial missions when the board offers them. Over a few weeks of ordinary play it quietly covers a large chunk of the seventy-odd you need.
5. Crashed Freighter Sites (Renewable, If You Commit)
Crashed freighters on planet surfaces have open cargo pods scattered around the wreck, and those pods sometimes contain modules.
The part worth knowing: the pods refill. Come back several real-world days later and a site that paid modules will have more. Build a Base Computer at a good wreck and it becomes a permanent stop on your teleporter network. See teleporters and base networking for wiring it into your routes.
This is the only genuinely renewable fixed-location source. It rewards patience rather than session time, which makes it a good complement to the cargo pod route rather than a replacement.
6. Shooting NPC Freighters in Open Space
Attacking a freighter's cargo pods works anywhere, not just in pirate space. It also flags you, brings Sentinel interceptors, and damages your standing with the controlling race.
It is a legitimate method and some players enjoy it. But since Outlaw space gives you the same pods without the consequences, it is hard to recommend as anything but a fallback for when you are already committed to piracy as a playstyle.
Method Comparison
| Method | Rate | Reliability | Setup | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlaw cargo pods | High | Medium (per-pod roll) | Ship weapons | Dedicated farming sessions |
| Nexus missions | Low | Guaranteed | None | Background accumulation |
| Derelict freighters | Medium–High | Depends on interior | Emergency Signal Scanner | Combining with derelict loot runs |
| Frigate expeditions | Low | Medium | A fleet | Passive income while offline |
| Crashed freighter sites | Low | Medium, renewable | A base at the site | Long-term routes |
| Open-space freighter raids | Medium | Medium | Combat readiness | Players already committed to piracy |
What to Unlock First
With seventy-plus modules to find, spending order matters more than most players think.
First: remote inventory access. It is a single unlock and it improves every hour you play from that point on. Hyperdrive range only matters when you are moving the freighter, which is rare; storage access matters constantly.
Then: hyperdrive tiers, in order. They stack, and there is no clever ordering to discover. Take them as you can afford them.
One caveat that catches people out: the freighter hyperdrive upgrades unlocked here are separate from the upgrade modules you install in the freighter's tech grid. Those come from derelict freighters and cost nanites, not Salvaged Frigate Modules. Both matter, and the freighter upgrades guide covers how they combine in the grid, including how to use the supercharged slots properly.
FAQ
Can you buy Salvaged Frigate Modules?
No. No merchant sells them, they cannot be refined or crafted, and they do not appear in trade terminals. Every module in your inventory was found. Anyone telling you otherwise is confusing them with freighter upgrade modules, which are a different item bought with nanites.
How many Salvaged Frigate Modules do I need in total?
Roughly seventy to eighty to unlock everything at the Upgrade Control terminal. You will not need them all at once, and most players unlock the terminal's catalogue gradually across dozens of hours rather than in a single push.
What is the fastest way to farm them?
Cargo pods at Outlaw stations, using the scope trick to read pod contents before firing so you only crack the ones holding modules. It beats every other method on modules per hour, at the cost of being active rather than passive.
Do derelict freighters always contain modules?
No, and the interior tells you early. The large chest-type crates are the ones that can hold modules; the tall locker-style containers cannot. A derelict that rolls mostly lockers is a poor module run regardless of how thoroughly you clear it.
Do crashed freighter cargo pods respawn?
Yes, after several real-world days. This makes a good crash site worth a Base Computer, since it becomes a renewable stop you can teleport to rather than a one-time pickup.
Does shooting cargo pods hurt my standing?
In normal systems, yes. It summons Sentinel interceptors and damages your standing with the controlling race. In Outlaw systems there is no penalty, which is the main reason to farm there.
Can I get modules from frigate expeditions reliably?
Reliably but slowly. Industrial expeditions are the ones that pay modules. Sending the fleet out every time you log off is close to free and adds up over weeks, which makes it a good background habit rather than a farm.
Key Takeaways
- Salvaged Frigate Modules have exactly one use: the Upgrade Control terminal on your freighter bridge, for hyperdrive tiers and remote inventory access.
- Scope cargo pods before shooting them. Reading contents first is the difference between a fast route and a slow one.
- Farm pods in Outlaw systems, where there is no Sentinel response and no standing penalty.
- Take every Nexus mission that pays a module. It is the only guaranteed source in the game.
- In derelicts, chest-type crates pay and locker-type containers do not. Judge the run in the first corridor.
- Send frigates on industrial expeditions every time you log off. It is free and it compounds.
- Unlock remote inventory access before the hyperdrive tiers. It improves every session; warp range only matters when the freighter moves.