Star Citizen 4.8.1 patch summary: what changed

Alpha 4.8.1 (build 4.8.1-LIVE.11948494, released 3 June 2026) is a focused content drop that adds the Defend Location mission archetype to the persistent universe — no new ships are included.

Missions — Defend Location

• Enemy bombers make coordinated attack runs on fuel storage and other critical infrastructure at a location; your job is to shoot them down before too many get through.
• A second, more demanding combined variant runs a defense and an escort objective simultaneously — both must be completed, and failing either ends the mission.
• Existing Escort Ship missions from the previous release have also been refreshed with Ace Pilot spawns and more varied flight paths to raise the difficulty ceiling.

Scale & Availability

• Contracts are available at asteroid mining bases across Stanton, Pyro, and Nyx through the Contract Manager.
• 385 total mission locations spread across 149 individual bases, with six difficulty tiers ranging from Very Easy up to Super.
• Some contracts sit behind reputation gates; Foxwell contracts additionally require completion of that faction's introductory mission.

Rewards

• Completions pay out aUEC, Faction Reputation, and Scrip with the issuing organisation.
• Foxwell contracts award Mercenary Scrip; Head Hunters contracts award Council Scrip.
• Blueprint rewards unlock at higher difficulty tiers, and there is no upfront cost to accept any contract.
• Abandoned or failed missions carry a 15-minute personal cooldown.

Synergy with 4.8

• Defend Location missions are designed to pair naturally with the Tactical Strike Groups system introduced in 4.8.0, giving coordinated groups a fresh combat objective.

This is a community summary — always cross-reference the official patch notes for the full and authoritative list of changes.