Star Citizen Alpha 4.10.3 is Live: InterSec Vanduul contracts, the Skarnov rifle, and the Galaxy and Liberator flyable right before IAE

It made it. Alpha 4.10.3 is on the Live servers, one day before the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo opens in New Babbage. Wakapedia-CIG posted the 4.10.3 LIVE release notes on Spectrum this morning, and RSI confirmed it on X a little after noon ET. Your launcher should show VERSION 4.10.3-LIVE.12650677. Long-term persistence is preserved, and starting aUEC is 20,000.

When we covered RC1 on the PTU on Tuesday, CIG was aiming for Live before IAE but hadn’t promised a date. They hit it.

What’s new on Live

• InterSec Defense Solutions contracts. Shark-CIG’s feedback post says this new contract line takes the fight to the Vanduul and the Shattered Blade clan in deep space, not at existing locations. Expect Blades, Glaives, Scythes and Stingers. Most of it unlocks only after you finish the Vanduul Tech Smugglers work for Welcome to Nyx.
• The LBCO Skarnov rifle. Like the other LBCO guns, it leaves an electrified pulse that detonates and chains to nearby targets. CIG says the recoil is consistent but has a high vertical kick, and it’s an energy weapon, so heat matters. Hot environments make it overheat faster, and cold ones slow the heat build-up (dev post).
• Bigger salvage buffers and new ships for aUEC. Both are listed under gameplay in the notes, and RSI’s post says the RSI Galaxy and Anvil Liberator are flyable now.
• 129 issues closed, including multiple exploits, with 36 that came from Issue Council reports. Fourteen fixes target the hangar and ASOP flow alone.

The full details are in the Alpha 4.10.3 Comm-Link notes. Both feedback surveys stay open until December 15.

PPR take: Getting this out the day before IAE is the right call, and I’m glad CIG didn’t just push it to after the show. Free Fly brings a flood of new players into New Babbage tomorrow, and the first thing every one of them does is walk up to an ASOP terminal. Fourteen hangar fixes matter more for that crowd than any new gun. For the rest of us, the InterSec contracts are the meat. Fighting Vanduul out in deep space instead of at a station we already know sounds like the Vanduul content folks have been asking about for years. Just know you’ll need to finish the Nyx smuggler work first. The Skarnov’s heat-by-temperature twist is a fun one, too. Bring it somewhere cold like microTech… And yes, the Galaxy being flyable the day before its manufacturer day means I’ll be taking a long look at it next to my Carrack. Patch day servers are usually rough, so give it a few hours if things are shaky.