Professions & Economy

Beginner Missions: Delivery Runs, Bounty Hunting & Low Risk Contracts

Safe early contracts to learn the loop and earn aUEC.

Updated 2026-07-25

Open in AtlasReeve hub

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Starter Contracts Overview

When starting out with a fresh account or new patch, your primary focus is building baseline reputation and earning credits without risking your own ship or funds.

Star Citizen provides structured contract lines accessible via the mobiGlas Contract Manager. Beginner contracts teach core mechanics such as quantum navigation, manual flight, target tracking, and cargo handling while funding your initial ship upgrades.

Depending on your starter ship you may be locked into only doing a combat loop or perhaps you can take courier missions. Which ever you decide to do we recommend you save enough money to rent a RAFT (192 SCU) or Hull-A (64 SCU), make sure you have slightly more so that you can afford to live.

RAFT can be rented at Lorville for 67,331 aUEC/day.
Hull A can be rented at Cargo Deck, Levski and Lorville from 32,319 aUEC/day.

Accessing Contracts via mobiGlas

  1. For cargo, after renting a ship, Travel to Hurston: Land at Baiini Point and go to the clinic and bind your imprint there in case you have an accident.
  2. Open mobiGlas: Press F1 to open your mobiGlas menu.
  3. Select Contract Manager: Click the Contract Manager app (clipboard icon).
  4. General vs. Personal Tabs:
    • General Tab: Legal, faction-backed contracts (Covalex, Bounty Hunters Guild, Local Security). Recommended for beginners.
    • Personal Tab: Unverified or illegal contracts. Often carry criminality penalties, crimestat risk, or hostile ambushes.

Recommended Starter Contract Paths

1. Covalex Cargo Hauling (Lowest Risk)

Cargo hauling contracts task you with moving crates between spaceports, orbital stations, and surface outposts. Unlike commodity trading, you do not pay for the cargo yourself Covalex supplies the freight, meaning zero personal financial risk if your ship is destroyed.

  • Trainee to Rookie Entry: Accept the initial Covalex evaluation mission under the Hauling tab. Completing this unlocks entry-level hauling contracts.
  • Stacking Route (Baiini Point to Area 18): Accept multiple extra-small or small hauling contracts picking up at Baiini Point and delivering down to Riker Memorial Spaceport on Area 18. Area 18’s atmosphere exit altitude is very low, making for fast turnaround times.
  • Accessible Rental Upgrades:
    • MISC Hull A (64 SCU): Cheaply rentable across most major planetary spaceports. Excellent entry-level step up from starter ships for stacking extra-small and small contract sets.
    • Argo RAFT (192 SCU): Rentable at Loreville for a modest daily fee (~70k aUEC). Allows you to easily bridge the gap into Junior and Member rank missions requiring heavy 32 SCU or 16 SCU container handling.
  • Partial Submission (Loss Prevention): If a box is lost or destroyed due to a bug or combat, you can submit partially completed Covalex contracts via the mobiGlas for partial pay and reputation (e.g., 75% payout for delivering 75%+ of the requested SCU).

2. VLRT Bounty Hunting (Combat Training)

Very Low Risk Target (VLRT) bounties introduce weapon convergence, target tracking, and energy management against low-tier AI targets (e.g., M50s, Auroras, Mustangs).

  • Unlock Certification: Under the Bounty Hunting tab, pay the nominal fee for the local Security Bounty Certification assessment.
  • Engagement Strategy: Keep your energy weapons balanced (pips split or heavy WEP) and engage from within 1,000–1,500 meters.

3. Investigation & Retrieval (Low-Risk On-Foot)

Found under the Investigation tab, these contracts send you to abandoned wrecks or surface caves to recover lost flight recorders (black boxes) or personal effects.

  • Minimal Requirements: Requires no cargo grid or heavy combat capability.
  • Useful Looting: Ship wrecks often contain abandoned crates, armor, or multi-tools that can be looted to equip your character for free.

Essential Contract Management Tips

  • Check Cargo Volumes: Before accepting a hauling contract, verify the required SCU volume matches your ship’s available cargo grid capacity (e.g., an Avenger Titan holds 8 SCU, a Cutlass Black holds 46 SCU, a Hull A holds 64 SCU).
  • Track Active Contracts: Under the Active tab in Contract Manager, select a contract and click Track to display mission objectives and quantum jump markers on your ship HUD.
  • Abandoning vs. Failing: If a contract breaks due to a bug, you can abandon it from the mobiGlas. Abandoning carries a reputation penalty and should be avoided, while failing or losing contractor cargo carries a larger hit. If you have bricked contracts, just exit to main menu and the contracts will be gone when you log back in instead of abandoning them.

Essential Contract Keybinds
• Open mobiGlas: F1
• Toggle Objective Tracking: Track/Untrack via mobiGlas Contract Manager