Q&A: RSI Polaris
Engineering Development Concept Ship Q&AContent
POLARIS
by Roberts Space Industries
Born back in 2946 in response to the rapidly escalating Vanduul conflict, the swift and deadly Polaris corvette has become a mainstay of Naval patrols across the galaxy.
To commemorate its introduction to the persistent universe, we asked the vehicle team to provide an update to its original Q&A alongside a few questions from the community.
1. What role does the Polaris fill in the current Persistent Universe?
The Polaris is the first military capital ship to arrive in the Persistent Universe, setting the standard for capital ships in Star Citizen.
“Fast and lethal. Those were the directives. How do we make something that meets both those expectations in a ship this size? It took a massive amount of work and ingenuity, but I think we did it.”
- Jules Parliegh, RSI Lead Ship Designer on the Polaris
2. What vehicles is the Polaris particularly suited to combating? Which vehicles would be effective against the Polaris?
The Polaris boasts formidable firepower, featuring Size 10 torpedoes and a powerful forward cannon, designed to deliver devastating damage to larger ships once their defenses are compromised, allowing for precise, impactful strikes. While its secondary turret offers some protection against fighters, the Polaris excels as a strategic long-range powerhouse rather than a brawler in close-quarters combat.
3. What’s the largest ship that fits in the Polaris’ hangar?
The Polaris’ hangar is designed to fit an Aegis Sabre. However, there is ample space and players have already come up with some interesting loading solutions.
1. What are some of the key changes made to the Polaris between its initial concept and its release today?
There are a few changes that happened as the ship went through its concept. The major highlights are:
Extended armory
No more executive officer’s quarter
Reworked crew quarters into bunk rooms
Addition features on the bridge
Large front turret
Change to torpedo reload mechanism
2. Does the Polaris have the capability to service fighters in the hangar bay, such as repair/refuel/rearm?
Currently, there are no plans to allow this outside of manually repairing, refueling, and restocking missiles.
3. Is the Polaris able to dock to space stations, similar to the Hammerhead?
Yes, the Polaris features a large docking port on each side.
4. Are any of the facilities/rooms on board, such as the medical or cargo bays, modular or customizable?
The Polaris has several different facility rooms on board such as:
Cargo bay
Brig
Medical
Crew mess
Armory
Crew bunk habs
The Polaris is not a modular ship and the rooms cannot be swapped out.
1. Can the Polaris’ torpedoes be reloaded manually, or does it need to be rearmed at a station?
After all of the torpedoes have been fired, they can be manually reloaded using a Multi-Tool tractor beam, providing the player has additional munitions on board.
2. The Polaris comes with automated point-defense turrets. How do these weapons operate? How do the turrets choose their targets?
These turrets are powered by AI modules (currently a basic implementation of the blades players will be able to use in the future) with a rigid priority:
Incoming hostile ordnance (bombs, torpedoes, missiles)
Nearby hostile vehicles
In the future, players might get more control of this. At this time, we’re watching the feedback closely as players try them for the first time.
3. Why are the captain’s quarters locked?
To ensure the Captain's Quarters meets the high standards we strive for, we decided to hold this room for the next major update. Allowing players to access and store items in the room could have caused persistence issues, so we chose the most reliable approach: locking the door and removing it from the exporting layers for initial launch - to be released soon.
1. What’s the largest vehicle that fits in the Polaris’ cargo bay?
The cargo bay is specifically for cargo. However, we have no doubt players will be able to fit a veritable garage of vehicles in there.
2. Could the room labeling and signage be reworked to make navigation more intuitive without requiring a map? For example, signs could be placed on walls for better visibility or room color and lighting contrast could be adjusted to improve clarity.
Signage was unfortunately missed and is something we want to go back and correct, along with the release of the captain’s quarters.
3. What happened to the executive officer’s quarters? What was the reason to get rid of it?
There is no longer a role for an executive officer aboard the Polaris (see the five-person bridge configuration). As a result, this room was removed and the armory was expanded.
DISCLAIMERThe answers accurately reflect development's intentions at the time of writing, but the company and development team reserve the right to adapt, improve, or change feature and ship designs in response to feedback, playtesting, design revisions, or other considerations to improve balance or the quality of the game overall.
by Roberts Space Industries
Born back in 2946 in response to the rapidly escalating Vanduul conflict, the swift and deadly Polaris corvette has become a mainstay of Naval patrols across the galaxy.
To commemorate its introduction to the persistent universe, we asked the vehicle team to provide an update to its original Q&A alongside a few questions from the community.
1. What role does the Polaris fill in the current Persistent Universe?
The Polaris is the first military capital ship to arrive in the Persistent Universe, setting the standard for capital ships in Star Citizen.
“Fast and lethal. Those were the directives. How do we make something that meets both those expectations in a ship this size? It took a massive amount of work and ingenuity, but I think we did it.”
- Jules Parliegh, RSI Lead Ship Designer on the Polaris
2. What vehicles is the Polaris particularly suited to combating? Which vehicles would be effective against the Polaris?
The Polaris boasts formidable firepower, featuring Size 10 torpedoes and a powerful forward cannon, designed to deliver devastating damage to larger ships once their defenses are compromised, allowing for precise, impactful strikes. While its secondary turret offers some protection against fighters, the Polaris excels as a strategic long-range powerhouse rather than a brawler in close-quarters combat.
3. What’s the largest ship that fits in the Polaris’ hangar?
The Polaris’ hangar is designed to fit an Aegis Sabre. However, there is ample space and players have already come up with some interesting loading solutions.
1. What are some of the key changes made to the Polaris between its initial concept and its release today?
There are a few changes that happened as the ship went through its concept. The major highlights are:
Extended armory
No more executive officer’s quarter
Reworked crew quarters into bunk rooms
Addition features on the bridge
Large front turret
Change to torpedo reload mechanism
2. Does the Polaris have the capability to service fighters in the hangar bay, such as repair/refuel/rearm?
Currently, there are no plans to allow this outside of manually repairing, refueling, and restocking missiles.
3. Is the Polaris able to dock to space stations, similar to the Hammerhead?
Yes, the Polaris features a large docking port on each side.
4. Are any of the facilities/rooms on board, such as the medical or cargo bays, modular or customizable?
The Polaris has several different facility rooms on board such as:
Cargo bay
Brig
Medical
Crew mess
Armory
Crew bunk habs
The Polaris is not a modular ship and the rooms cannot be swapped out.
1. Can the Polaris’ torpedoes be reloaded manually, or does it need to be rearmed at a station?
After all of the torpedoes have been fired, they can be manually reloaded using a Multi-Tool tractor beam, providing the player has additional munitions on board.
2. The Polaris comes with automated point-defense turrets. How do these weapons operate? How do the turrets choose their targets?
These turrets are powered by AI modules (currently a basic implementation of the blades players will be able to use in the future) with a rigid priority:
Incoming hostile ordnance (bombs, torpedoes, missiles)
Nearby hostile vehicles
In the future, players might get more control of this. At this time, we’re watching the feedback closely as players try them for the first time.
3. Why are the captain’s quarters locked?
To ensure the Captain's Quarters meets the high standards we strive for, we decided to hold this room for the next major update. Allowing players to access and store items in the room could have caused persistence issues, so we chose the most reliable approach: locking the door and removing it from the exporting layers for initial launch - to be released soon.
1. What’s the largest vehicle that fits in the Polaris’ cargo bay?
The cargo bay is specifically for cargo. However, we have no doubt players will be able to fit a veritable garage of vehicles in there.
2. Could the room labeling and signage be reworked to make navigation more intuitive without requiring a map? For example, signs could be placed on walls for better visibility or room color and lighting contrast could be adjusted to improve clarity.
Signage was unfortunately missed and is something we want to go back and correct, along with the release of the captain’s quarters.
3. What happened to the executive officer’s quarters? What was the reason to get rid of it?
There is no longer a role for an executive officer aboard the Polaris (see the five-person bridge configuration). As a result, this room was removed and the armory was expanded.
DISCLAIMERThe answers accurately reflect development's intentions at the time of writing, but the company and development team reserve the right to adapt, improve, or change feature and ship designs in response to feedback, playtesting, design revisions, or other considerations to improve balance or the quality of the game overall.
POLARIS
von Roberts Space Industries
Die schnelle und tödliche Korvette Polaris wurde 2946 als Antwort auf den schnell eskalierenden Vanduul-Konflikt geboren und ist zu einer wichtigen Stütze der Marinepatrouillen in der ganzen Galaxis geworden.
Um ihre Einführung in das persistente Universum zu feiern, haben wir das Fahrzeugteam gebeten, ein Update des ursprünglichen Q&A sowie einige Fragen aus der Community zu beantworten.
Das Unternehmen und das Entwicklungsteam behalten sich jedoch das Recht vor, Features und Schiffsdesigns als Reaktion auf Feedback, Spieltests, Designänderungen oder andere Überlegungen zur Verbesserung der Balance oder der Qualität des Spiels insgesamt anzupassen, zu verbessern oder zu verändern.
von Roberts Space Industries
Die schnelle und tödliche Korvette Polaris wurde 2946 als Antwort auf den schnell eskalierenden Vanduul-Konflikt geboren und ist zu einer wichtigen Stütze der Marinepatrouillen in der ganzen Galaxis geworden.
Um ihre Einführung in das persistente Universum zu feiern, haben wir das Fahrzeugteam gebeten, ein Update des ursprünglichen Q&A sowie einige Fragen aus der Community zu beantworten.
Das Unternehmen und das Entwicklungsteam behalten sich jedoch das Recht vor, Features und Schiffsdesigns als Reaktion auf Feedback, Spieltests, Designänderungen oder andere Überlegungen zur Verbesserung der Balance oder der Qualität des Spiels insgesamt anzupassen, zu verbessern oder zu verändern.
POLARIS
by Roberts Space Industries
Born back in 2946 in response to the rapidly escalating Vanduul conflict, the swift and deadly Polaris corvette has become a mainstay of Naval patrols across the galaxy.
To commemorate its introduction to the persistent universe, we asked the vehicle team to provide an update to its original Q&A alongside a few questions from the community.
1. What role does the Polaris fill in the current Persistent Universe?
The Polaris is the first military capital ship to arrive in the Persistent Universe, setting the standard for capital ships in Star Citizen.
“Fast and lethal. Those were the directives. How do we make something that meets both those expectations in a ship this size? It took a massive amount of work and ingenuity, but I think we did it.”
- Jules Parliegh, RSI Lead Ship Designer on the Polaris
2. What vehicles is the Polaris particularly suited to combating? Which vehicles would be effective against the Polaris?
The Polaris boasts formidable firepower, featuring Size 10 torpedoes and a powerful forward cannon, designed to deliver devastating damage to larger ships once their defenses are compromised, allowing for precise, impactful strikes. While its secondary turret offers some protection against fighters, the Polaris excels as a strategic long-range powerhouse rather than a brawler in close-quarters combat.
3. What’s the largest ship that fits in the Polaris’ hangar?
The Polaris’ hangar is designed to fit an Aegis Sabre. However, there is ample space and players have already come up with some interesting loading solutions.
1. What are some of the key changes made to the Polaris between its initial concept and its release today?
There are a few changes that happened as the ship went through its concept. The major highlights are:
Extended armory
No more executive officer’s quarter
Reworked crew quarters into bunk rooms
Addition features on the bridge
Large front turret
Change to torpedo reload mechanism
2. Does the Polaris have the capability to service fighters in the hangar bay, such as repair/refuel/rearm?
Currently, there are no plans to allow this outside of manually repairing, refueling, and restocking missiles.
3. Is the Polaris able to dock to space stations, similar to the Hammerhead?
Yes, the Polaris features a large docking port on each side.
4. Are any of the facilities/rooms on board, such as the medical or cargo bays, modular or customizable?
The Polaris has several different facility rooms on board such as:
Cargo bay
Brig
Medical
Crew mess
Armory
Crew bunk habs
The Polaris is not a modular ship and the rooms cannot be swapped out.
1. Can the Polaris’ torpedoes be reloaded manually, or does it need to be rearmed at a station?
After all of the torpedoes have been fired, they can be manually reloaded using a Multi-Tool tractor beam, providing the player has additional munitions on board.
2. The Polaris comes with automated point-defense turrets. How do these weapons operate? How do the turrets choose their targets?
These turrets are powered by AI modules (currently a basic implementation of the blades players will be able to use in the future) with a rigid priority:
Incoming hostile ordnance (bombs, torpedoes, missiles)
Nearby hostile vehicles
In the future, players might get more control of this. At this time, we’re watching the feedback closely as players try them for the first time.
3. Why are the captain’s quarters locked?
To ensure the Captain's Quarters meets the high standards we strive for, we decided to hold this room for the next major update. Allowing players to access and store items in the room could have caused persistence issues, so we chose the most reliable approach: locking the door and removing it from the exporting layers for initial launch - to be released soon.
1. What’s the largest vehicle that fits in the Polaris’ cargo bay?
The cargo bay is specifically for cargo. However, we have no doubt players will be able to fit a veritable garage of vehicles in there.
2. Could the room labeling and signage be reworked to make navigation more intuitive without requiring a map? For example, signs could be placed on walls for better visibility or room color and lighting contrast could be adjusted to improve clarity.
Signage was unfortunately missed and is something we want to go back and correct, along with the release of the captain’s quarters.
3. What happened to the executive officer’s quarters? What was the reason to get rid of it?
There is no longer a role for an executive officer aboard the Polaris (see the five-person bridge configuration). As a result, this room was removed and the armory was expanded.
DISCLAIMERThe answers accurately reflect development's intentions at the time of writing, but the company and development team reserve the right to adapt, improve, or change feature and ship designs in response to feedback, playtesting, design revisions, or other considerations to improve balance or the quality of the game overall.
by Roberts Space Industries
Born back in 2946 in response to the rapidly escalating Vanduul conflict, the swift and deadly Polaris corvette has become a mainstay of Naval patrols across the galaxy.
To commemorate its introduction to the persistent universe, we asked the vehicle team to provide an update to its original Q&A alongside a few questions from the community.
1. What role does the Polaris fill in the current Persistent Universe?
The Polaris is the first military capital ship to arrive in the Persistent Universe, setting the standard for capital ships in Star Citizen.
“Fast and lethal. Those were the directives. How do we make something that meets both those expectations in a ship this size? It took a massive amount of work and ingenuity, but I think we did it.”
- Jules Parliegh, RSI Lead Ship Designer on the Polaris
2. What vehicles is the Polaris particularly suited to combating? Which vehicles would be effective against the Polaris?
The Polaris boasts formidable firepower, featuring Size 10 torpedoes and a powerful forward cannon, designed to deliver devastating damage to larger ships once their defenses are compromised, allowing for precise, impactful strikes. While its secondary turret offers some protection against fighters, the Polaris excels as a strategic long-range powerhouse rather than a brawler in close-quarters combat.
3. What’s the largest ship that fits in the Polaris’ hangar?
The Polaris’ hangar is designed to fit an Aegis Sabre. However, there is ample space and players have already come up with some interesting loading solutions.
1. What are some of the key changes made to the Polaris between its initial concept and its release today?
There are a few changes that happened as the ship went through its concept. The major highlights are:
Extended armory
No more executive officer’s quarter
Reworked crew quarters into bunk rooms
Addition features on the bridge
Large front turret
Change to torpedo reload mechanism
2. Does the Polaris have the capability to service fighters in the hangar bay, such as repair/refuel/rearm?
Currently, there are no plans to allow this outside of manually repairing, refueling, and restocking missiles.
3. Is the Polaris able to dock to space stations, similar to the Hammerhead?
Yes, the Polaris features a large docking port on each side.
4. Are any of the facilities/rooms on board, such as the medical or cargo bays, modular or customizable?
The Polaris has several different facility rooms on board such as:
Cargo bay
Brig
Medical
Crew mess
Armory
Crew bunk habs
The Polaris is not a modular ship and the rooms cannot be swapped out.
1. Can the Polaris’ torpedoes be reloaded manually, or does it need to be rearmed at a station?
After all of the torpedoes have been fired, they can be manually reloaded using a Multi-Tool tractor beam, providing the player has additional munitions on board.
2. The Polaris comes with automated point-defense turrets. How do these weapons operate? How do the turrets choose their targets?
These turrets are powered by AI modules (currently a basic implementation of the blades players will be able to use in the future) with a rigid priority:
Incoming hostile ordnance (bombs, torpedoes, missiles)
Nearby hostile vehicles
In the future, players might get more control of this. At this time, we’re watching the feedback closely as players try them for the first time.
3. Why are the captain’s quarters locked?
To ensure the Captain's Quarters meets the high standards we strive for, we decided to hold this room for the next major update. Allowing players to access and store items in the room could have caused persistence issues, so we chose the most reliable approach: locking the door and removing it from the exporting layers for initial launch - to be released soon.
1. What’s the largest vehicle that fits in the Polaris’ cargo bay?
The cargo bay is specifically for cargo. However, we have no doubt players will be able to fit a veritable garage of vehicles in there.
2. Could the room labeling and signage be reworked to make navigation more intuitive without requiring a map? For example, signs could be placed on walls for better visibility or room color and lighting contrast could be adjusted to improve clarity.
Signage was unfortunately missed and is something we want to go back and correct, along with the release of the captain’s quarters.
3. What happened to the executive officer’s quarters? What was the reason to get rid of it?
There is no longer a role for an executive officer aboard the Polaris (see the five-person bridge configuration). As a result, this room was removed and the armory was expanded.
DISCLAIMERThe answers accurately reflect development's intentions at the time of writing, but the company and development team reserve the right to adapt, improve, or change feature and ship designs in response to feedback, playtesting, design revisions, or other considerations to improve balance or the quality of the game overall.
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Metadata
- CIG ID
- 20314
- Channel
- Engineering
- Category
- Development
- Series
- Concept Ship Q&A
- Comments
- 0
- Published
- 5 days ago (2026-05-25T11:00:00+00:00)