Starfield main mission list, explained

It’s very easy to go off on a tangent in Starfield. One minute you’re off to search for an artifact with Constellation, and before you know it, you’ve wound up in the custody of a government operation that wants you to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet for them. Fortunately, Starfield has plenty of things for you to do, but the high level of freedom and choose-your-own-adventure aspects of the story make it very easy to get distracted from the main quests. But don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered.

If you’re wondering what the main missions are, what future missions await a humble space explorer like you, or you’re just curious how long Starfield’s main campaign is, rest assured we’ve got the full scoop. Below you can find all about Starfield’s main story missions.

How many main story missions are in Starfield?

Image: Bethesda

Starfield boasts a total of 20 main missions which kick off with “One Small Step” and finally culminate poetically in “One Giant Leap”. The overarching plot of these missions, without spoiling anything, is to search for and gather a number of mysterious artifacts along with Constellation, a group of space explorers.

But it’s not that simple of course, as along the way you’ll get into a few hijinks and odd situations here and there. The number of missions may seem small for such a large game as Starfield but that’s actually because each of these missions is broken up into many objectives that are like missions of their own. In total, the main missions of Starfield should take around about 20 hours or so to complete, if you skip all of the side quests and extra things like outpost building. Here are the main missions of Starfield, in order:

1. One Small Step
2. The Old Neighborhood
3. The Empty Nest
4. Back to Vectera
5. Into the Unknown
6. Power From Beyond
7. All That Money Can Buy
8. Starborn
9. Further into the Unknown
10. Short Sighted
11. No Sudden Moves
12. High Price to Pay
13. Unity
14. In Their Footsteps
15. Unearthed
16. Final Glimpses
17. Missed Beyond Measure
18. Entangled
19. Revelation
20. One Giant Leap

Note: The “Power From Beyond” quest is entirely optional, but ties into the overarching story.

This should give you an idea of where you are in the story. Apart from the main storyline, there are several side quests and faction missions to keep you entertained in Starfield, so don’t worry if you reach the end of the plot, space sailor! We have guides for the missions and rewards in the Freestar Ranger, Ryujin Industries, UC Vanguard, and Crimson Fleet faction questlines too if you want to check those out.

Starfield is available for Xbox and PC.