Fortnite astronaut challenge: How to find the ancient ship and install its missing parts

Deep beneath the waves off the coast of Craggy Cliffs, Fortnite developers had hidden a mysterious spaceship since the start of season 3. Thankfully, the water has receded enough to reveal the entire spaceship, and players are now tasked with a new secret challenge: Find the ancient ship and install its missing parts.

If you don't know where to look to find the ship's missing parts, this challenge can be a drag. So, we've gone ahead and laid out every step of this secret challenge so you can complete it and get that sweet, sweet XP.

Ancient ship location

You'll find the ancient ship just off the coast of the Craggy Cliffs POI, which is in the northern part of the map. Look out into the water and you'll see the orb-like contraption there.

Swim up to the ship and you'll activate the secret quest. Now you just need to find the missing parts.

Missing parts locations

Thankfully, every missing part is pretty close by. Here's where to look.

The Battery Pack is just to the east a few feet in the water from the ship. You'll probably have to break the large rock sitting in that pool of water to get at it.

The Heat Shield is on the peninsula further east. You'll similarly find it buried in some rocks you have to break.

The Thruster is the easiest to find. Look up to the face of the cliff nearby and you'll see a small green glowing object. That's your thruster. If you broke those rocks to get to the other two items, you should have enough material to build your way up there.

Now you just have to put all the parts back on the spaceship and launch it. On the ship's east side, you'll notice three parts that are sparking with electricity and look broken. Interact with those three sections and you'll install the missing parts.

Now your objective will change to "launch the ship," and it gives you a roughly 50-second countdown timer. Don't worry about having to interact with something else. The ship automatically launches away after that timer runs out, zooming off into the sky and jumping into a dimensional portal.

Please enjoy this demonic loot shark that appeared out of nowhere to scare the crap out of me while I was completing this challenge.

Could it be some sort of clue for season 4? Fortnite has already given us some pretty trippy interdimensional events in seasons past, and season 2 ended with some sort of doomsday device being set off by Midas, triggering season 3's flood. Time will tell, but Epic is certainly fond of revisiting such science fiction concepts as launching grounds for new seasons.

Make sure to check out our other Fortnite guides and patch notes. Don't forget that Fortnite has its very own Atlantis location now, dubbed "Coral Cove."