Expeditions
An expedition is a community-driven event where a large group of pilots journey together to distant locations across the galaxy. A big expedition can have thousands of participants. The duration is usually a few weeks or months. Logistics are very important for success of an expedition. It requires planning, organizing, and management of all resources and processes. The number of participants tends to decline along the way due to abandonment.
List of expeditions
These are notable player-organized expeditions.
| Expedition name | Date | Participants | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| August Exodus - Jaunt to Jaques | 3302 (2016) | When a lone cyborg bartender NPC named Jaques attempted to misjump his station across the galaxy and accidentally got stranded 22,000 light-years away, players organized immediate, massive rescue expeditions. This fleet hauled meta-alloys and structural supplies to repair his station, establishing what is now known as Colonia—humanity's second major bubble of civilization. | |
| Distant Worlds | 3302 (2016) | The pioneering 12-week, 65,000+ light-year journey organized by CMDR Erimus Kamzel and team that took over 1,000 players from the Ploeide system to Beagle Point, ultimately inspiring future galactic colonization and the creation of Colonia. | |
| Distant Worlds II | 3305 (2019) | A monumental 5-month expedition spanning 13,000+ initial players—with over 3,700 successfully reaching Beagle Point—notable for tackling perilous regions like The Abyss and establishing permanent waypoints. | |
| Distant Worlds III | 3312 (2026) | A massive current-era armada of over 8,000 players embarking on a multi-month journey targeting deep galactic exploration, supported by the Orion Colony Initiative and custom player-managed mission frameworks. [1, 2] | |
| The Enigma Expedition | 3311 (2025) | A touching community-organized expedition to accompany a terminally ill player named Brandon to Colonia, raising thousands for childhood cancer and resulting in developer Frontier Developments adding the permanent memorial megaship Dove Enigma. | |
| The Small Worlds Expedition | 3302 (2016) | Rather than using heavily engineered, long-range exploration ships like the Anaconda, this unique expedition required players to utilize tiny, atypical vessels (like Sidewinders, Eagles, and Haulers). It was designed as a beginner-friendly tour of local nebulae to teach new pilots the fundamentals of fuel scooping, star-mapping, and deep-space surviva |
Gallery
- ED Expeditions Visual History