The Gatac Tyilui is the first dedicated alien snub fighter carrier in Star Citizen. It holds four snub fighters in a rear hangar, carries 96 SCU of cargo meant for rearming, repairing and refuelling them, and is built by Gatac Industries, a Xi’an manufacturer. CIG’s Behind the Ships episode on the Tyilui, released June 17, 2026, lays out why the ship exists and what it is like inside.
The short version from the developers: snub fighters have no quantum drive and very limited range, so they need a larger ship to carry them to the fight. The Tyilui is that ship, and it is designed for players who want to be in the battle in a support role rather than at the front of it.
What the Tyilui is for
CIG splits its snub division into snub fighters and snub craft. The Tyilui is for the fighters. Because they cannot quantum travel, they rely on a carrier to get where the action is, and the Tyilui provides that plus somewhere to resupply.
The 96 SCU of cargo space exists to feed the rearm, repair and refuel mechanics: room for the RMC that repairs hulls, hydrogen fuel for refuelling, missiles for restocking and ammunition for reloading guns. CIG describes the result as a swarm of angry wasps that can go in, attack, return to the carrier if they stir up too much trouble, and jump away to safety.
How it compares with the Gatac Railen
The Tyilui shares some visual elements with the Railen, Gatac’s hauler, but CIG says it is a new chassis rather than a variant. The obvious change is at the rear, where a large hangar door opens onto the hangar bay behind an air shield.
Weapons match the Railen with one addition: two extra remote turrets, one on top and one underneath, both facing rearward. CIG is candid that the firepower is not large. It is meant to be enough of an annoyance to distract other players and let the rest of your fleet reach its objectives.
A hangar where you walk on the walls
The rear section is the ship’s centrepiece. The four snub bays are arranged in a 360-degree space, and the Xi’an, described by CIG as masters of gravity and magnets, use anti-gravity technology so you can walk the whole way around the interior to reach your pad. There is no real sense of up and down, and the developers say you can jog a full lap of it.
Either side of the hangar, small cave-like corridors lead to a ready room for the snub pilots, designed as a transition from the intensity of flying a snub into the calm of the rest of the ship. From there you reach the main elevator shaft and the shared hub area familiar from the Railen.
Inside: rec room, turret rooms and escape pods
The rec room is a large space with high ceilings and imposing arches on either side. The art team describes the style as art deco crossed with alien, using organic materials such as actual alien rock on the walls; one developer compares the feel to a grand bazaar.
There is a turret access room on each side of the ship, which the team nicknames the turret reception because of its waiting-room feel. Each has a window looking along the side of the ship with a bench in front of it, and the escape pods are in the same rooms.
What fits inside, and what might come next
CIG expects players to test what fits in the hangar beyond the intended snub fighters, and says it almost always goes beyond what the team expects. Its own warning is to try it at your own risk, with a Reclaimer’s salvage claw used as the example of what not to attempt.
Asked whether an alien snub fighter is now needed to go with the carrier, the developers say it has crossed their minds. Nothing was announced.
What this means for new players
A carrier is a multi-crew ship by nature: it needs pilots for the snubs and someone to fly and defend the carrier itself. For a new player the Tyilui is a ship to crew on rather than to buy first, and it is a good way to join an organisation’s fleet operations in a support role without owning a fighter. If you already have a snub fighter, which several starter and mid-size ships carry, this is the kind of ship that makes it useful away from a station. Our Star Citizen referral code guide explains how the 50,000 UEC signup bonus works and how to apply code STAR-6WPK-3K56 before you enlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Xi’an carrier from Gatac Industries, and the first dedicated alien snub fighter carrier in Star Citizen. It holds four snub fighters and 96 SCU of supplies for rearming, repairing and refuelling them.
Four snub fighters, in a rear hangar with a large door and an air shield. CIG expects players to test what else fits, at their own risk.
No. It shares some visual elements with the Railen but is a new chassis, with the same armament plus two rear-facing remote turrets on the top and bottom.
Snub fighters have no quantum drive, so their range is very limited. A carrier like the Tyilui moves them to the fight and carries fuel, ammunition, missiles and repair material.
Source: Star Citizen | Behind the Ships: Gatac Tyilui. Details come from CIG’s Behind the Ships: Gatac Tyilui video of June 17, 2026.
