On-going Development Of Horizons

New gameplay features and content will be introduced to Elite Dangerous throughout its second season, following the release of Horizons' first expansion, Planetary Landings, in December 2015.

There are 4 expansions currently in development for release within 2016, free to all owners of Horizons. ^src

While each expansion is titled after its headline feature - generally available to Horizons players only - they also will contain many other basegame gameplay/content improvements and additions, available free to all players of Elite Dangerous.

Sources to be added/linked :)

Horizons

The headline gameplay features and content in development that will be available to free to Horizons players.

Loot & Crafting, 2.1

• Greater degree of customisation and power to the ships. ^EGX
• Improve and customise normal weapons and module types. ^EGX
• Let you create unique equipment. ^src
• Loot will be found in various place in the galaxy, e.g. planetary surfaces, wrecked vessels. ^EGX
• It's a reward system to assist explorers, combatants, traders, miners and bounty hunters with each having different L&C options available. ^EGX
• Ability to create different coloured and powered lasers along with guns that would create malfunctions in enemy ships systems. ^EGX
• Engineers are NPCs who will facilitate crafting, by providing mod blueprints for applying to weapons/modules.^DEV3
• Engineers have their own characteristics, history, specialisations, rank requirements and loyalties. ^DEV3
• Having a better NPC relationship and higher rank will give access to better blueprints. ^DEV3
• ~30 Engineers spread geographically in the human bubble, located on planets, and shown on the Galaxy Map. ^DEV3

Ship-Launched Fighters, 2.x

• Larger ships in the game (for example the T-9) will be able to launch and/or dock smaller vessels from their bays. ^EGX
• Launched vessels can be either NPC or CMDR piloted. ^EGX
• These smaller ships will be used to fight off enemy craft, act as scouting vessels on planets. ^EGX
• If playing on your own and choose to leave your main vessel in a smaller fighter craft your ship will fly on autopilot and defend itself. ^EGX
• Concept Image.

Multi-Crew, 2.x

• Players working together to control the different functions of a ship. ^EGX A multicrew ship landing on a planet's surface could have one player stay with the main vessel, another patrol in a ship-launched fighter, and another explore in their SRV. ^EGX
• The maximum number of crew on a ship is 4, and uses the Wing system. ^OTH7 This crew limit may be increased in a future Season: "We don't know how high we would go." ^EGX
• 4 roles: Helm (piloting), Fire control (turrets/weapons), Countermeasures (shields, tactical), Engineering (sensors, navigation, repairs). ^OTH7
• CMDRs can hotswap between roles, including in Solo. ^OTH7
• Balanced so that a fully-crewed ship is on par with 4 CMDRs in a wing. ^OTH7
• Uses an SRV-style UI interface. ^OTH7
• No NPC Crew initially. ^AMA
• Concept image1, image2.

Commander Creator, 2.x

• Enormous range of faces and features available using the Commander Creation "slider tool". ^EGX
• This option will be selected via the game's interface. ^EGX
• In combination with Multicrew players will at last be able to see each other, in game. ^EGX
• Faces will be visible as the visors will be retracted with pressurised cockpit. ^OTH4
• Canopy breach will cause Visors to appear. ^OTH4
• Although dev-demo shows baldness, hair is confirmed. ^EGX
• Concept image1, image2, and video.

Not Scheduled (Yet)

• More SRV's. ^OTH4
• Planet updates will include "active volcanism" and "ice volcanism". ^src
• Larger settlements, including cities. ^OTH4
• NPC ships flying around stations and the surface. NPC SRVs not this Season. ^OTH4
• More coming for explorers on planet surfaces. ^AFTD2
• Atmospheric landings on Planets with Life will NOT be part of Horizons season. ^src

Elite Dangerous

Known gameplay features, content, and improvements currently in various stages of development that may be available free to all Elite Dangerous players. These are categorised as follows:

• Scheduled - confirmed as appearing in a named or numbered expansion.
• Not Scheduled (Yet) - confirmed as appearing at some point during Horizons' Season.
• Not Confirmed (Yet?) - either repeatedly discussed or heavily hinted at appearing during Horizons' Season. As they are unconfirmed, they could arrive during any expansion, or fall back into Season 3.

Scheduled

• (2.0.04) Bug fix update, expected in the week starting 25/1/16. ^DEV3
• (2.1) Some loot options will be available, found in space. ^DEV3
• (2.1) Overhaul of missiles and mines. ^src
• (2.1) Overhaul of weapons system. ^src
• (2.1) Greater information feedback for Minor Faction interactions. ^DEV1
• (2.1) Information about how you can help a specific Minor Faction. ^DEV2
• More NPC persistence. ^AMA
• (2.1) Faces for specific NPC contacts like mission givers, in 2.1. ^DEV2
• (2.1) The NPC contacts a CMDR will interact with depends on their reputation with the contact's Minor Faction.^DEV2
• (2.1) Improvements to graphics and visuals. ^DEV2
• (2.1) Lots of mission changes. ^DEV3
• (~2.2) Galaxy Map Bookmarks. ^AMA

Not Scheduled (Yet)

• Fully-chained missions - different types of missions in a sequence, e.g. delivery following an assassination. ^src
• Improvements to mission generation, which is dependent on the current station's market. ^src
• New military, ranking and Powerplay missions. ^src
• New structures, based on CQC assets. ^src
• Finding traces of The Missing: early 24th Century explorers. ^src
• Mysterious colonies in deep space. ^src
• More ships, some of which will be very large trading ships. ^src
• More Community Goals to expand the human bubble. ^OTH4
• More differentiation between systems and stations, e.g. rundown station in a poor system. ^OTH4
• Community Goals to create new and upgrade planetary ports and settlements. ^src
• More CQC maps. ^src
• Paying off insurance/rebuy costs by liquidating assets. ^src
• Ferrying multiple ships from one station to another. ^src
• New FSD and engine upgrades for faster travel. ^src
• Instancing and matchmaking stability improvements. ^OTH7
• Story reasons for Piracy & Bounty Hunting. ^OTH4
• Things related to Thargoids and other non-Thargoid species. ^OTH4
• Big improvements to Powerplay, involving non-pledged CMDRs, and the relationship with Minor Factions. ^AMA
• Player-Group sponsored Minor Factions will have the opportunity to become a Power. ^DEV1
• Better population modelling and effects for Minor Factions. ^DEV1
• Military mission revamp, into more like a career. ^AFTD2

Not Confirmed (Yet?)

• Exploration log. ^src
• Large improvements to the API. ^src
• Planets with visible-from-space weather systems. ^src
• Co-ordinates for mission targets. ^src
• More astronomical phenomenon, especially comets. ^src Comets are already in the simulation, but gameplay is being designed for them. ^OTH4
• Passenger missions. ^src
• Orrery view in system map. Concept image. ^OTH4
• Ship naming. ^OTH4
• CQC Racing. ^{unverified src}
• Improved NPC communications. ^src
• Power specific skins. ^src
• Asteroid stations. ^OTH4

• Some crafting options. ^DEV3

• More Powerplay missions, variety and rewards.
• Powerplay interdiction and spawning rebalancing, with home systems becoming significantly safer.
• In Powerplay, each time a CMDR earns a Merit they also earn a Favour, which is a permanent resource and does not decay.
• During a Powerplay Cycle, a CMDR could "spend" Favours to trigger an individual rating’s benefits until the next Cycle. Favours are worth significantly less than Merits.
• Ability to toggle Powerplay status to be active or hidden, through either an option/decal/skin, with a cooldown before you get the benefits.
• Ability to "up" or "down" vote a system involved in Powerplay action, as a contextual communication of attack/defence ideas.
• Outside of Powerplay, CMDRs can pledge as a Freedom Fighter to one System, to fight against Powers attempting to control that System.
• Freedom Fighters could be valid targets in any System controlled or exploited by any Power that shared a Major Faction with the one being attacked.
• More dovetailing between Minor factions and Powers, beyond the existing Government vs Ethos effect, which will also be changed to scale instead of a set 50%.