Earth in Starfield has an interesting backstory for those invested in how humans fared before zipping about space and settling other planets.
If you’re curious, we’ve briefly detailed what happened to Earth in Starfield below, along with a short explainer on how to get to Earth, and what you can do on its surface once you make the journey.
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Is Earth in Starfield?
Yes, Earth is in Starfield, even though humanity has abandoned it in favour of settling less hostile environments in places like New Atlantis on the planet Jemison.
Why is Earth such a hostile environment now? Well…
What happened to Earth in Starfield?
What was once the ‘Blue Planet’ is now one big desert because Earth lost its atmosphere. It didn’t happen immediately, so humanity had about 50 years to evacuate. According to Sarah Morgan, these efforts helped start the United Colonies Government as they were “managing the exodus”.
As this happened a few centuries ago in Starfield’s current timeline, there are even some people who don’t believe Earth exists, as mentioned by Supervisor Lin at the beginning of the game.
How to get to Earth in Starfield
You can actually travel to Earth very early in the game, as we visited Earth ourselves during Starfield’s second mission, ‘The Old Neighbourhood’. However, to get to Earth you need to have enough fuel for your ship. How much fuel you need depends on how far away you are from the ‘Sol’ star system.
So, to get to Earth in Starfield you have to:
- Open the Starmap
- Zoom out to the star systems view
- Select Sol and hold the ‘Jump’ button
- Find Earth in Sol and press ‘Show Me’, then ‘Set Landing Target’ anywhere on Earth’s surface
- Land on Earth!
There are no settlements or set places to land on Earth, which is why you can just set a landing target anywhere and go exploring.
You can also scan Earth before landing to see what resources it has and further your Survey progress, and if you have the Astrophysics Skill you might also discover Earth’s Trait when scanning. The Higher your rank in Astrophysics, the more likely you are to discover a planetary Trait (and you can scan planets and moons from further away).
Just be careful when exploring Earth’s surface, as it can give you the ‘Extreme Solar Radiation’ Status Effect. Equipping different spacesuits and consuming the correct Aid items can help keep this effect at bay while exploring.
What is on Earth in Starfield?
Earth in Starfield is not a very resource-rich planet, nor is it filled with much to do or find. However, according to companion Sarah Morgan there might be a few “remnants of the old world” that can be found while exploring Earth.
Although we’ve searched Earth a few times ourselves, we haven’t found any notable landmarks or easter eggs on its surface yet. Due to Starfield having some randomly generated surfaces, we also can’t confirm yet if everybody’s Earth map is the same. So even if somebody did find something of note on Earth, you might not be able to find it in the exact same location.
Also, keep in mind that exploring Earth can give you the ‘Extreme Solar Radiation’ Status Effect, and that its temperature is cold, so equipping an appropriate spacesuit is recommended.
If you’re after some materials while exploring, here’s what resources you can find on Earth:
- Chlorine
- Dysprosium
- Iron
- Lead
- Water
While on our travels, we also came across an Iron Meteorite Geophysical feature, and the Covered Crater and Sludge Pools areas. These named areas just seem to be more likely to have resources in them, as there was nothing else worth noting when we examined them.
However, there might be missions that involve Earth that we haven’t come across yet, so perhaps the surface gets more exciting while progressing with the main and side content!