Starborn – Starfield Constellation Mission Walkthrough

Starborn Mission Overview

Mission type: Main story mission, the seventh in the Constellation questline
Prerequisite: All That Money Can Buy
Starts: On takeoff from Neon, in orbit of Volii Alpha
Completed at: The Lodge, New Atlantis, Jemison, Alpha Centauri
Rewards: 5,000 Credits, Calibrated Constellation Space Helmet, and around 300 XP
Unlocks: Further into the Unknown, plus the Speak with Walter activity that leads to Overdesigned

This is one of the shortest main missions in Starfield. Most of it is dialogue, and the only real decision comes in the first few seconds.

The Helix Ambush – Surrender, Fight or Grav Jump

As soon as you lift off from Neon, a ship called the Helix jumps in and hails you. The pilot claims to be Starborn and demands the Artifact. You have three ways out:

Grav Jump away. Power up your grav drive and jump to any star system. Alpha Centauri is the practical pick, since the Lodge is where you are heading anyway. Do it quickly, because the Helix turns hostile after a short delay and its fire will interrupt the jump.

Fight the Helix. The Helix sits at roughly level 30 and heavily outguns the ship most players have at this point in the main story. It can be destroyed, but there is no payoff: at zero health it simply jumps away, and you cannot board or loot it.

Surrender the Artifact. Jettison Artifact Nu and the Helix leaves. Any Constellation companions aboard your ship dislike this choice. The mission still continues, the Lodge meeting still happens and the rewards are identical, but you never get the objective to add the Artifact to the collection.

Grav Jumping is the cleanest option. You keep Artifact Nu and you avoid the affinity hit. The rest of this walkthrough follows that route.

In orbit, a ship called the Helix hails you, identifying themselves as Starborn. You can try to escape, hand over the artifact, or fight. I escaped and headed straight back to the Lodge, but whichever you pick, the follow-up mission Starborn unlocks in your Missions menu once All That Money Can Buy wraps up.

1 – Talk to Noel

Mission Text:
“We’ve survived our encounter with the Starborn. We need to head back to the Lodge and tell everyone what happened.”

Set course for Alpha Centauri and travel back to The Lodge in New Atlantis on Jemison. Noel is standing near the Artifact Collection on the ground floor. Talk to her and she will call the rest of Constellation over to the table behind her

2 – Attend the Lodge Meeting

Mission Text:
“Constellation is holding a meeting to discuss this Starborn ship that ambushed us.”

Follow the marker and take a seat. The members each put forward a theory about the ship: Sam Coe argues the design could be human, Barrett thinks it is alien, and Matteo reads it as something closer to a judgement. Let them finish, then you get your say.

Your reply only affects companion affinity, not the mission outcome:
Siding with Sam is liked by Sam, and disliked by Sarah and Barrett.
Siding with Barrett is liked by Sarah, and loved by Barrett.
Siding with Matteo gets no reaction from anyone.

Right after the meeting you automatically talk to Sarah.

3 – Add the Artifact to the Collection

Mission Text:
“The meeting at the Lodge is over. I should add the Artifact to the collection before I head out.”

Activate the Artifact Collection in the center of the Lodge and place Artifact Nu with the others. If you surrendered the Artifact to the Helix earlier, this objective never appears and the mission ends after the meeting instead.

Completing Starborn awards 5,000 Credits and the Calibrated Constellation Space Helmet. Vladimir Sall then wants to talk to you, which starts Further into the Unknown. You will also pick up a Speak with Walter activity, which leads into the Overdesigned mission.