Expeditions are the most engrossing events in No Man’s Sky, and Expedition 9: Utopia is one of the longest for players to complete. However, if players know how to smash out each Milestone, they’ll get through this Expedition in no time at all.
No Man’s Sky’s Expeditions are the biggest and most immersive events in the game. They’re driven by the community as players from around theworld come together to complete Milestones and make meaningful changes in the system around them. Expedition 9: Utopia is one of the best for this because it’s all about building to support the Utopia Foundation.
Related: All Refiner Recipes in No Man’s Sky
How to Start No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia
To start No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia, players must launch the game and select a new save file. Then, they need to choose the option for the Community Expedition in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
At the time of writing, the Expedition is live from December 8 to 15, 2023. This is a much shorter time frame for players to complete the event, but we’ve covered every milestone below, so there should be no issues for players who want to power through all the required missions.
How to Complete All Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia
In the tables below, we’ve outlined every Phase and Milestone players must complete in No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia, how to complete them, and what rewards and offer for doing so. While these don’t need to be completed in order, we recommend players do because the rewards from each Milestone help players with the following ones.
No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia Phase 1 Milestones
With the table below, we’ve highlighted all the Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia and how they’re completed. Players can get really easily sidetracked with base building here, but it’s important not to and just keep going through Milestones.
| Milestone Name | How to Complete | Rewards | Tips for the Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Establish a base. | A Pre-Packaged Personal Refiner Unit, 200 Copper, and Analysis Visor Plans. | Players must build a Base Computer, then a small structure, and then register the base. |
| Provisions | Prepare supplies for the journey ahead: Analysis Visor. | Base Teleport Module Plans, five Ion Batteries, and a Powerful Mining Beam Upgrade. | Players need to add the Analysis Visor to their Multi-Tool with one Carbon Nanotube. |
| Ground Control | Upload a base to the Utopia Project. | 100 Paraffinium, a Pre-Packaged Advanced Mining Laser Unit, and a Geobay Blueprint Pack. | Players need to use their Base Computer to upload their base to the Utopia Project. |
| Planet Link | Deploy a variety of Exocraft. | Hermetic Seal Plans, a Supreme Exocraft Engine Upgrade, 256 condensed Carbon, and a Powerful Movement System Upgrade. | Players must deploy a few Exocraft such as the Minotaur and Nomad from their Geobay. |
| System Link | Locate the Starship. | Starship Launch Fuel Plans, a Suspicious Packet (Tech), a Banned Launch thrusters Upgrade, and Starship Launch Fuel. | Players need to use their Exocraft, probably the Nomad, to follow the on-screen indicator and find their Starship. |
| Scenic Route | Travel 1,000u by Exocraft. | a Pre-Packaged Icarus Fuel System Unit, a Supreme Exocraft Engine Upgrade, and an Exocraft Technology Blueprints Pack. | Players just need to travel around in their Exocraft until they’ve clocked up 1,000u. This should happen on the way to their Starship. |
| Outpost Alpha | Register the settlement of the first planet. | 12 Triple Burst Fireworks, three Inventory Slots, and 1,200 Nanites. | Players need to locate a settlement and register it. |
No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia Phase 2 Milestones
In this section, we’ve detailed every Milestone in No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia and how to complete them. Everything is still quite light at this point in the event, but it’s important to keep up the speed because of how quickly time can creep on.
| Milestone Name | How to Complete | Rewards | Tips for the Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outpost Beta | Claim the second planet for Utopia. | 1,000 Nanites, a Utopia Supply Drop Beta, and Craftable Components Plans. | Players must fly to the second planet and set up a base as they did with the first to register it with the Utopia Project. |
| Assignment Beta | Receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. | Advanced Habitation Module Plans, 12 Salvaged Data, and Utopia Build Station Plans. | Players must use the Base Computer to receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. |
| Settlement Beta | Found a Utopia base on planet Ukinfor. | Utopia Exosuit Station Plans, Glass Habitation Module Plans, and 64 Glass. | Seek out a Utopia base on the planet Ukinfor by following the marker from the Milestone. |
| Ironclad | Learn an upgrade from a Utopia Exosuit Station. | A Supreme Movement System Upgrade, a Supreme Scanning System Upgrade, Airburst Engine Plans, and 150 Phosphorus. | Find an Exosuit Station in a Utopia base and lean an upgrade from it. |
| Herbicide | Eliminate five hazardous flora. | Haz-Mat Gauntlet Plans, 4048 Runaway Mould, a Pre-Packaged Optical Drill Unit, and a Supreme Defensive Systems Upgrade. | Use the Mining Beam to kill hazardous flora across all worlds players travel to until five total have been destroyed. |
| Companionship | Adopt one animal companion. | A powerful Defensive Systems Upgrade, three Inventory Slots, and five Life Support Gel. | Craft Creature Pellets and use them to feed a creature before choosing the option to adopt it on a world. |
| Caldera | Reach a volcanic crater. | A Supreme Hazard Protection Upgrade, three Repair Kits, 999 Pure Ferrite, 999 Carbon. | Players need to find a volcanic crater on a planet and clime to the top of it. |
No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia Phase 3 Milestones
In this table, we’ve listed all the Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia and how to complete them. At this point in the Expedition, it’s important to keep up momentum because it’s easy to get bogged down.
| Milestone Name | How to Complete | Rewards | Tips for the Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outpost Gamma | Claim the third planet for Utopia. | 1,200 Nanites, a Utopia Supply Drop Gamma, and a Pre-Packaged Pulse Spitter Unit. | Players need to find and claim the third planet for Utopia using this Milestone as a guide. |
| Assignment Gamma | Receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. | Decorative Base Parts Set, 512 Condensed Carbon, a Pre-Packaged Airburst Engine Unit, and a Pre-Packaged Cloaking Device Unit. | Players must use the Base Computer to receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. |
| Settlement Gamma | Find a Utopia base on the planet Reat. | Portable Exocraft Research Plans, a Pre-Packaged Amplified Cartridges Unit, and 2 Powerful Underwater Oxygen Upgrades. | Locate a Utopia base on the planet Reat using this Milestone as a guide. |
| Advanced Mechanics | Learn an upgrade from a Portable Exocraft Research Station. | Nautilon Chamber Plans, five Repair Kits, and a Supreme Exocraft Boost Upgrade | Use the Portable Exocraft Research Plans to build and learn an upgrade. |
| Detectorist | Recover lost objects. | Five Blue Fireworks, five Red Fireworks, five Green Fireworks and five Weapon Blueprints. | Players must use the Nautilon to find a hidden treasure underwater on a planet. |
| Local Delicacies | Prepare Cocoa and Pilgrim’s Tonic. | A Supreme Scanning System Upgrade, five Inventory Slots, and an Assortment of Cakes. | Craft Cocoa and Pilgrim’s Tonic. |
| Flora Magenta | Discover three planetary flora on the planet Reat. | Storage Container Plans and a Supreme Scanning system Upgrade. | Scan every plant on planet Reat. Look underground in caves and underwater. |
No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia Phase 4 Milestones
This table shows all the Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia and how they must be completed. It’s important for players to try to claim the rewards as they go with these because the rewards help with future Milestones.
| Milestone Name | How to Complete | Rewards | Tips for the Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outpost Delta | Claim the fourth planet for Utopia. | 1,400 Nanites, Utopia Supply Drop Delta, and a Pre-Packaged Personal Forcefield Unit. | Find and claim the fourth planet using this Milestone as a guide. |
| Assignment Delta | Receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. | A Pre-Packaged Paralysis Mortar Unit, four Inventory Slots, and a Banned Defensive systems Upgrade. | Players must use the Base Computer to receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. |
| Settlement Delta | Found a Utopia base on planet Halagoriu. | Utopia Multi-Tool Station Plans, 21 Salvaged Data, and two Supreme Pulse Spitter Upgrdes. | Players need to find a Utopia base on the planet Halagoriu. |
| Omni-Tool | Learn an upgrade from a Utopia Multi-Tool. | Six Repair Kits, ten Wiring Lom and 25 Ion Batteries. | Players must build the Utopia Multi-Tool Station and learn and upgrade from it. |
| Whaleseeker | Discover an aquatic creature weighing over 50kg. | 20 Ion Batteries, 800 cyto-Phosphate, and Curly Coral Plans. | Players must explore underwater using a Nautilon and scan every creature until they find one larger than 50kg. |
| An Acquired Taste | Gather cooking ingredients. | Detoxified Slime Plans, a Terrifying Sample, and the Horrific Flesh-Helmet Customization. | Players need to gather the ingredients required from the Miulestone. |
| The Cleanse | TBA | TBA | Complete Outpost Delta to unlock this Milestone. |
| Parasites | Eliminate three Hungering Tendrils. | 16 Hex core, a Supreme Mining Beam Upgrade, and a forbidden Multi-Tool Module. | Players need to hunt down and kill three Hungering Tendrils. |
No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia Phase 5 Milestones
See below for every Milestone in Phase 5 of No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia and how to complete them. This is the last Phase of the Expedition, so the final rewards can be claimed if every Milestone has been completed up to and through this Phase.
| Milestone Name | How to Complete | Rewards | Tips for the Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outpost Epsilon | Cliam the final planet for Utopia. | 1,616 Nanites and Utopia Supply Drop Epsilon. | find the final planet using this Milestone as a guide and claim it for Utopia. |
| Assignment Epsidon | Receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. | A Supreme Hazard Protection Upgrade and Assorted Agricultural Module Plans. | Players must use the Base Computer to receive instructions from the Utopia Foundation. |
| Settlement Epsilon | Find a Utopia base on planet Greiad Major. | Utopia Ship Station Plans, 3,100,000 Units, and Survey Device Plans. | Players need to explore Greiad Major and find a Utopia base on it. |
| Flight Calculations | Learn an upgrade form a Utopia Ship Station. | Warp Hypercore Plans, a Supreme Pulse Engine Upgrade, and a Supreme Hyperdrive Upgrade. | Players ned to build the Utopia Ship Station and learn an upgrade form it. |
| Prints in the Snow | Discover three creatures on the planet Greiad Major. | A Supreme Movement system Upgrade, three Inventory Slots, and 256 Mordite. | Search for creatures while exploring the planet until three have been discovered. |
| Seismology | Survey for a gas hotspot. | Three Repair Kits, five Planetary Charts, and a Supreme Mining Beam Upgrade. | Players must search a planet until they find a gas hotspot they can record. |
| The Next Frontier | Venture Beyond the Utopia System. | 12 Storage Augmentations and NipNip Buds. | Playerrs need to warp beyond the Utopia system to complete Expedition 9: Utopia. |
What is No Man’s Sky Expedition 9 Redux: Utopia?
No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Redux is exactly the same as the original Expedition 9: Utopia, but it’s a rerun instead of the initial release of the Expedition. This doesn’t mean there are any limitations on the event, but it does mean that it will be running for a shorter period of time than a standard Expedition does.
The latest rerun for Expedition 9: Redux began on December 8, 2023, with the No Man’s Sky Holiday 2023 Expeditions update. It’s unlikely it will be seen again until 2025 or 2026 given just how many Expeditions are in No Man’s Sky now. At the time of writing, there are 11 in total, though 2024 will definitely bring more.
