IAE 2956: Official FAQ, Staggered Sales, Best in Show and Prospector at $175 (November 11, 2026)
CIG's official FAQ for the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2956 sets the opening at November 13 at 16:00 UTC and details the staggered sales, the Best in Show rewards and the Twitch Drops. It also announces a $20 increase for the MISC Prospector, rising from $155 to $175.
In the official IAE 2956 FAQ, published on Spectrum, CIG outlines how the expo will work. The event opens on November 13 at 16:00 UTC and closes on November 27, with Free Fly running for the entire duration. The text also covers practical rules, a sales calendar and a price increase.
48-Hour Rentals and Staggered Sales
The expo takes place at the Tobin Expo Center in New Babbage on microTech, with more than 200 ships and vehicles available to try for free. Each rented ship remains available for 48 hours and can only be rented once per account.
On the store side, limited-stock ships will be offered in successive waves to cover the different time zones:
- Origin 890 Jump starting November 14;
- Drake Kraken and Kraken Privateer starting November 17;
- Consolidated Outland Pioneer starting November 18;
- Aegis Idris-P and Aegis Javelin starting November 20.
Warbond Daily Deals will also be offered each day for 24 hours.
The Twitch Drops are also returning. Once a Twitch account is linked to the RSI account, two hours of viewing unlock an undergarment matching the Galaxy. Four hours add the armor set, and six hours complete the outfit with a backpack.
Best in Show: Eligibility Requirements
The four ships that reached the semi-finals of the Ship Showdown will receive the limited Best in Show livery, along with a themed coin and display case. They are the RSI Perseus, the Origin M80, the Drake Corsair and the Drake Ironclad Assault. The Perseus, winner of the Ship Showdown, also receives a collector's jacket commemorating its title.
The FAQ sets one condition: the ship in question, variants excluded, must be active in the web hangar at the close of the event. Melting it before that date forfeits eligibility for the rewards.
The Prospector Goes to $175
The FAQ states that the MISC Prospector will increase by $20 on the day dedicated to MISC, rising from $155 to $175. It stays at its current price until then.
Context
The CIG countdown had already announced the expo dates and more than 200 ships available for rent. It also promised exclusive equipment and themed paints.
Meanwhile, a new PTU build, 4.10.3 RC1, has been pushed, focused on stability ahead of the expo. According to the patch notes thread, it notably fixes:
- ASOP terminals where the Retrieve option stayed greyed out when a hangar platform was stuck in motion;
- vehicles that did not appear for medium recovery contracts at Battaglia;
- players who could pass through the command module door barricade during phase 2 of Battaglia's story 1 and become trapped there.
The game remains on Live 4.10.2. The move of 4.10.3 to Live is targeted for this week, ahead of the IAE opening.
For reference, datamining of the game files had suggested a Finale shortened to four days, from November 23 to 27. This information has not been confirmed by CIG.
What we still don't know
- The exact date of the 4.10.3 release on Live is not set beyond 'this week'.
Next signal to watch: the deployment of 4.10.3 on Live, followed by the opening of the expo on November 13 at 16:00 UTC.