Unidentified Signal Source

USS as seen from a ship's cockpit

USS displayed in a ship's Contact panel

Unidentified Signal Source (abbreviated as "USS") are locations that randomly spawn throughout star systems. These locations can contain anything from unique NPCs to commodities and more. Missions can send players to find specific NPCs or Commodities which will generally be found in a USS.

Missions that send players to a USS:

• Assassination
• Salvage/Fetch (Generally illegal missions that require you to obtain an item from a certain system)

Types of Signal Sources

Salvage

These contain the remains of a destroyed ship, along with a 1-10 cargo canisters containing either the ships' cargo, or special commodities such as Black Boxes, which are often used as mission goals. Any cargo picked up in salvage signal sources can only be sold at Black Markets, since it is marked as stolen.

Pirates

Here players will find 1-4 pirates in their ships. They are sometimes accompanied by a transport ship, such as a Hauler. Pirates will start a cargo scan on the player's ship and attack only when they find any cargo that the player is unwilling to share. Even though the pirates are forming a gang, they often act individually and do not help themselves when the players attacks one of them. It is not known whether this behaviour is on purpose or a bug.^{[citation needed]}

System Authority & Bounty Hunters

Similar to the gang of pirates, this signal source is inhabited by 1-4 ships, consisting of system authority ships and bounty hunters, sometimes both at the same time. They will scan the player's ship and only attack when the player has a local bounty on their head. System authority ships (not bounty hunters) can also issue fines when illegal or stolen cargo is detected.

Pirates & System Authority

In these signal sources, system authority ships are engaged in a fight with pirates. The player may choose to help either side.

Tech Traders

Here, a single trading ship, usually a Type-9 is found and offers the player to purchase wares off them. If the player's cargo contains the required commodity, it is automatically removed from cargo and the player is compensated in credits. These traders do not care whether the cargo has been acquired legally or stolen and always pay the full price, in contrast to black markets, which pay less for stolen cargo.

Wedding or Funeral Ships

A group of usually 4 ships, of which one is always a Type-9. They ignore the player's ship, unless provoked.

Notes

• Assuming a USS has spawned it will be displayed (and lockable) in the Contacts panel the player's ship is close enough to the spawned USS.
• It is unclear how USS spawn since they can generally be found throughout star systems and ship speed does not seem to play an active role.^{[citation needed]}