IAE 2956 is open: RSI Day puts the Galaxy on the rental floor and sells the Skylark on its own for the first time

The doors at Tobin are open, and RSI has the floor. @RobertsSpaceInd kicked off Day 1 of IAE 2956 at 11 a.m. ET with two headliners: the debut of the modular RSI Galaxy and the standalone launch of the RSI Skylark. About an hour later they followed up with “Haul. Heal. Refine. Build.” and told everyone to test fly the Galaxy now. If you’ve been staring at her since the Behind the Ships episode, today’s the day to go find out.

The Galaxy, on the expo floor

The Galaxy has technically been flyable since 4.10.3 hit Live yesterday, but RSI Day is her real coming-out party. CIG’s IAE 2956 RSI page bills her as the headline of this year’s sponsor, and RSI’s own pitch is that the configurable midship lets you decide what she is, backed by “serious defensive capabilities.” From the Behind the Ships breakdown, that means a crew of six, a small hangar for a snub, and cargo or medical modules today, with refinery and base-building modules planned later. Per the IAE FAQ, expo rentals last 48 hours, so you’ve got a real window to load cargo, try the med module, and see how she handles with friends aboard.

The Skylark goes solo

Until now the Skylark only came docked under the Constellation Mk V Centaurus. Starting today you can get the little prone-pilot snub on its own. RSI’s tagline is “armed for the fight, shielded for the fray, and fueled to scout the frontier,” and if you flew her during Discovery Month you know the two shield generators make her tougher than most snubs, if not the nimblest.

More to read today

CIG also posted a Q&A covering every ship debuting at the show, and Freyja-CIG opened an “All in a Day’s Work” video contest on the Devtracker, asking players to show what their everyday ‘verse life looks like. Free Fly runs through November 27, and Wccftech counts over 200 ships and vehicles on the rental kiosks. Per the manufacturer schedule tracked by Neckarus’ Hangar, RSI holds the floor through tomorrow, when Origin overlaps, then it’s Anvil and the Liberator on the 15th.

PPR take: This is the one I’ve been waiting for. The Galaxy has been a concept since IAE 2952, and getting to rent her for 48 hours for free, on day one, is exactly how a ship launch should work. Don’t take my word or anybody’s video for it. Grab a friend, load up the cargo module, swap to medical, and decide for yourself before you spend a dime. As for me and my Carrack… she’s not going anywhere, at least not yet. 😆 The Skylark going standalone is a nice touch too. If you’ve wanted that prone seat without buying a whole Connie, now you can, and that’s how it should’ve been from the start. Fair warning for new Free Fly pilots: day one servers at Tobin are always packed, so if the rental kiosks are crawling, go grab the Aurora Mk II everyone gets, fly around microTech for a bit, and come back.