You’ve seen the hippie camp. You’ve probably stood on top of Mount Chiliad at 3 AM in the rain, hoping to catch a glimpse of that shimmering UFO, only to realize you’re missing the most important piece of the puzzle. Most players treat the hunt for Grand Theft Auto 5 spaceship parts as a tedious chore to tick off for 100% completion. It’s a grind. Honestly, it’s one of the most grueling scavenger hunts Rockstar has ever put us through. But if you want that weird, glowing Space Docker vehicle, you have to find all 50.
There is no shortcut. No cheat code.
The quest starts after the "Far Out" mission. You meet Omega, a paranoid conspiracy theorist in Sandy Shores who looks like he hasn't slept since the 90s. He’s convinced an alien craft crashed and scattered bits of technology across Los Santos and Blaine County. He isn't lying. From the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean to the literal top of the tallest skyscrapers, these small, glowing tubes are hidden in places that make you wonder if the level designers actually enjoy watching us suffer.
Why you need to start the Grand Theft Auto 5 spaceship parts hunt early
Don’t wait until the end of the game. Seriously.
If you try to do this all at once, you’ll burn out. The map is huge. We're talking about 49 square miles of terrain. Some of these parts are tucked away in the back of farmhouses in Grapeseed, while others require a helicopter and the steady hands of a surgeon to land on a narrow bridge girder. If you're playing as Franklin—who is the only one who can actually trigger the mission—you should use his ability to slow down time while driving. It helps when you're trying to navigate the tight alleys where some of these things are stashed.
Actually, let’s talk about the hardware. You need a Buzzard. Or a Frogger. Or an Oppressor if you’re playing on a version that allows it. Walking is for suckers. If you try to find all the Grand Theft Auto 5 spaceship parts on foot, you’re looking at ten hours of frustration. Some parts are under docks, requiring you to dive deep into the smog-filled water of the Port of South Los Santos. Others are inside the drainage tunnels where you pulled off the first heist.
It’s about the hum.
When you get close to a part, you’ll hear a low-frequency rhythmic buzzing. It sounds like a dying fluorescent light bulb. If you're playing with headphones, listen for the spatial audio. It’s often the only way to find a part hidden in a bush or behind a dumpster. If the sun is out, they’re harder to see. Nighttime is your friend here. The parts emit a faint green glow that pops against the dark textures of the Los Santos hills.
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The trickiest Grand Theft Auto 5 spaceship parts locations
There are a few that everyone misses. You’ll have 49 parts and be pulling your hair out looking for the last one. Usually, it’s the one at the Los Santos International Airport. It’s sitting right behind a hangar in a service area, and if you haven't bought a hangar there, you'll get a four-star wanted level the second you enter the tarmac.
Then there’s the one on the bridge. The La Puerta freeway bridge.
You have to climb up the support cables or land a chopper on the very top beam. It’s nerve-wracking. One slip and you’re wasting five minutes respawning at the hospital and finding a new helicopter. Another nightmare is the part located on a ledge of the OTB building in Downtown. You can't get there by stairs. You have to parachute onto it or hover a helicopter close enough to jump out. It’s high-stakes platforming in a game that wasn’t really built for it.
Hidden in plain sight: The rural parts
Blaine County is a different beast. Up north, the parts are scattered in places like the Dignity Village refugee camp or the Paleto Cove. There's one sitting on a rock in the middle of a stream near the Zancudo River. It’s peaceful, sure, but easy to drive right past if you’re going too fast.
The San Chianski Mountain Range has one hidden in a shallow cave. You’d never find it without a guide or a lot of luck. Most people assume the parts are only in "interesting" locations, but Rockstar loves to put them in the most mundane spots imaginable. Like a pipe in a construction site or the backyard of a random house in Mirror Park.
Don't forget the water.
There are several parts submerged. One is under the bridge at the Lago Zancudo swamp. Another is near the Coveted cove. You don't necessarily need scuba gear for most of them, but it makes your life a lot easier. If you're holding your breath, you have about 30 seconds to find the glowing tube and get back to the surface. It's tight.
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What happens when you actually find all 50?
Once the final piece is in your inventory, you get a text from Omega. He wants you to meet him back at his trailer in the desert. This is the payoff. Sorta.
He’s built the Space Docker. It’s a modified buggy that looks like it was assembled in a junkyard using parts from a 1950s sci-fi movie. It has green glowing lights and makes weird "pew-pew" noises instead of a traditional horn. It’s unique. You can’t buy it. You can't find it in traffic.
But here is the catch: if you lose it or blow it up, it’s gone. At least in the original versions of the game, it didn't always respawn reliably in your garage. Always save your game immediately after getting it. It’s a trophy. It isn't particularly fast, and the handling is basically the same as a standard Dune Buggy, but the status symbol is what matters. You’re one of the few who actually bothered to look under every bridge in San Andreas.
Common misconceptions about the alien parts
A lot of people think you need these for the "Chiliad Mystery." While the Grand Theft Auto 5 spaceship parts are definitely alien-themed, they are technically a separate collectible quest from the Mural. However, completing this mission is a requirement for the "From Beyond the Stars" trophy/achievement.
Some players also believe you can find the parts as Michael or Trevor. You can see them, but you can't pick them up until you've met Omega as Franklin. If you're flying around as Trevor and spot one, mark it on your map and come back later. It’s a waste of time to hunt them without the mission being active.
Another weird myth is that the parts move. They don’t. They are static objects. If a guide says a part is on a specific rooftop, it’s there. If you don't see it, you're likely on the wrong level of the building or at the wrong corner.
Strategy for an efficient hunt
If you want to knock this out in one sitting, follow a path. Start at the bottom of the map in the docks and work your way up the east coast toward Paleto Bay. Then, come back down through the center of the map and finish on the west coast.
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- Get a Maverick or Buzzard. The Buzzard is better because it’s smaller and can land in tighter spots.
- Set your waypoint manually. Use a map on your phone or a second monitor.
- Listen for the hum. It's louder than you think once you're within ten feet.
- Save every 5-10 parts. The game can be glitchy, and you don't want a crash to wipe out an hour of searching.
The sheer scale of this task is a testament to how much detail Rockstar crammed into this world. Even years after release, finding these parts forces you to look at the architecture and the geography in a way you never would during a heist or a police chase. You start to notice the graffiti under the highway overpasses. You see the way the light hits the salt flats at sunset.
It’s a grind, but it’s a tour of the most realized digital city ever built.
Final check before you finish
Before you head to Omega’s for the final reveal, double-check your stats in the pause menu. It will tell you exactly how many you have collected out of 50. If you’re at 49, check the locations near the Land Act Reservoir or the Rathlowe area. Those are the usual suspects for "the one that got away."
Once you have the Space Docker, take it for a spin through the city at night. The green neon glow is one of the coolest visual effects in the game. It makes the whole ordeal feel worth it. Almost.
Next Steps for Completionists
- Go to the Social Club website: Link your account to see an interactive map of the parts you are specifically missing. It’s more accurate than any manual list.
- Check your Garage space: Ensure you have an open slot in Franklin’s four-car garage before finishing the mission to ensure the Space Docker has a home.
- Combine the hunt: While you’re out there, look for Letter Scraps. Many of them are located within a few hundred yards of the spaceship parts. Doing both at once will save you hours of backtracking.
- Use a stunt plane: For the parts on the bridges, a stunt plane can actually be easier to maneuver than a bulky helicopter if you're good at low-speed stalls.
The hunt is long. The reward is weird. But that’s GTA. If it were easy, it wouldn't be a Rockstar game. Get your chopper, turn on the radio, and start listening for that buzz. You've got a lot of ground to cover.