Over the course of Fortnite Season 3, players have watched the water that once flooded the game's map slowly recede. With the most recent lowering of these water levels, an Ancient Ship has surfaced, and fans can now repair and launch this vessel – a process that will ultimately reward Fortnite players with a reasonable amount of XP.

The first step to launching the ship in Fortnite is to visit it, and indeed that requires players to know exactly where the spaceship is located.  To put things simply, Fortnite's Ancient Ship can be found on a small piece of land just northeast of Craggy Cliffs, and here is a map for those players that would like a visual reference:

RELATED: Fortnite: Where Are the Floating Rings at Weeping Woods

how to launch ship in fortnite

Once a player has found the ship in Fortnite, they will then be instructed to locate and install several missing parts to get it up and running. In total there are three missing parts (a Battery Pack, a Heat Shield, and a Thruster), and they are all located quite close to the ship. Again, here is a map for those Fortnite fans that are wondering exactly where the missing parts are, and players simply need to interact with the parts to pick them up:

how to launch ship in fortnite

  • 1. Battery Pack: In the shallow water just southeast of the Ancient Ship.
  • 2. Heat Shield: Break the rock right next to the water to find the part underneath.
  • 3. Thruster: Build a structure to reach the part against the cliff face.

After a player has collected all three of these missing parts in Fortnite, they should then return to the ship and install them. To note, each part must be inserted into a specific section of Fortnite's Ancient Ship, and players will find all three of these sections on the left side of the vessel.

With the parts installed, players will now be able to interact with the ship one final time to launch it. This will cause the craft to begin hovering, and a one-minute countdown will appear on screen. Now all a fan must do is make sure that a Fortnite opponent does not interfere with the ship before that countdown reaches zero, at which point the spaceship will launch and the challenge event will be complete.

Fortnite is available now Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in development.

MORE: All Fortnite Season 3 Week 7 XP Coin Locations