War Thunder Space Program Event Guide: How to Unlock the F-16XL Free

The Space Program event runs from 3 September (11:00 GMT) to 21 September (11:00 GMT) and hands out the F-16XL, a Rank VIII event jet for the USA. It's structured as nine stages at 45,000 mission points each, with the aircraft itself arriving at stage 8 — so the plane costs 360,000 mission points and the full set of rewards costs 405,000.

The number that should shape your plan is 750,000. That's what the "Upgrade for coupon" item costs, and it's the only way to make your F-16XL coupon sellable on the Market. Playing this event for yourself and playing it to sell are separated by more than double the work.

And one detail buried in Gaijin's own post is worth more than any farming tip: the Golden Eagle price of an unfinished stage collapses as you approach completion. Buying a stage at 95% progress costs 199 Golden Eagles. Buying one you've barely touched costs roughly five times that.

The event in numbers

Nine stages, 45,000 mission points each. Stages rotate every two days at 11:00 GMT — on 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 September.

Mission points come from Air Battles at Rank III or above, in Arcade, Realistic or Simulator. The points required per stage vary with the mode and the highest Rank of vehicle you bring, and the applicable multiplier is shown in the task description in-game. Points are only credited when a battle ends, so leaving early costs you everything from that match.

Event vehicles at Rank I and II also count. If you've collected event aircraft from previous years, check their stat cards — vehicles that display an event name on the card are eligible.

What the F-16XL actually is

A delta-wing F-16 that lost. The XL was built with a cranked-arrow delta wing, greater internal fuel and more hardpoints than a standard Fighting Falcon. It went up against the F-15E Strike Eagle in 1981 and lost. The two prototypes were handed to NASA in 1988, where they spent the 1990s flying supersonic laminar flow research — which is where the event's space theme comes from.

In game, expect a trade rather than an upgrade. It's heavier than production F-16s with a lengthened fuselage, so acceleration is noticeably worse. What you get back is improved sustained turning. Armament runs to two AIM-9L and four AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, plus up to six AGM-65B Mavericks and bombs for ground attack.

That loadout is the real argument for grinding it. A Rank VIII airframe carrying both AMRAAMs and six Mavericks is a genuine multirole option, which is rarer at that bracket than another pure fighter would be.

The reward ladder

• Stage 1 — a trophy containing a random reward
• Stage 2 — one of the two event decals, "F-16XL" or "Space"
• Stage 3 — a "Military Survival Kit" silver chest
• Stage 4 — the second event decal
• Stage 5 — another random trophy
• Stage 6 — the F-16XL loading screen
• Stage 7 — a second silver chest
• Stage 8 — the non-tradable coupon for the F-16XL
• Stage 9 — the unique "Ship No. 1" camouflage plus four random modifications for the aircraft

Stage 9 is worth pushing for even after you have the plane. Four random modifications on a fresh Rank VIII jet removes a meaningful chunk of the post-unlock grind, and modifications at that tier are expensive in both RP and Silver Lions.

The chests contain 50,000 to 100,000 Silver Lions, Silver Lion and Research Point boosters, random Wagers and Orders, one to three Universal Backups, a random camouflage for a vehicle you already own, or a day of Premium Account.

The Golden Eagle discount is the most useful thing in the announcement

Never buy a stage you haven't nearly finished. Gaijin's own figures make the curve explicit: at 39,000 of the 45,000 points required, a stage costs 499 Golden Eagles. At 43,000 points, the same stage costs 199.

So the discipline is simple. If a stage is slipping away from you, grind it as close to the line as you can before spending anything. The difference between buying at 85% and buying at 95% is roughly 300 Golden Eagles per stage, and across several stages that adds up to more than most players spend on the entire event.

Buying early is the most expensive mistake available here, and it's the one the interface makes easiest.

Missed stages can be bought but not farmed

This is the structural catch. Because stages rotate every two days, a stage you fail to complete inside its window cannot be ground out later — the points move on with the rotation. What you can do is purchase it with Golden Eagles from the Achievements window, and that option stays open until 25 September.

In practice that means the event punishes gaps rather than slow play. A player logging in consistently across the eighteen days arrives comfortably. A player who does nothing for a week faces a bill rather than a grind.

Keeping the coupon or selling it

The stage-8 coupon is non-tradable. Using it activates the F-16XL on your account immediately. If that's what you want, you're done at 360,000 points.

Selling requires the "Upgrade for coupon" item at 750,000 mission points, earned in parallel across the same event window. Once applied, it converts the coupon into a tradable one — which can then be sold on the Market only after six days have passed since its creation.

The item expires at 11:00 GMT on 25 September, and can be exchanged for War Bonds instead if you decide against selling. After that it disappears from your inventory.

Do the arithmetic before committing. 750,000 mission points is more than double what the aircraft itself requires, and the six-day holding period means you can't sell into the launch-week price spike. If you want the plane, take it at stage 8 and stop.

Claim your rewards manually

Completing a stage does not give you the reward. You have to click your name in-game, open "Space Program", and press "Get Reward" for each one.

This is the single most common way event rewards go unclaimed, and it applies to every stage including the coupon. Progress is tracked under Nickname → Achievements → Space Program.

How to actually finish it

1. Play the mode with the best multiplier for your lineup, not the mode you prefer. The task description shows the multiplier; check it before committing eighteen days to a mode.
2. Finish every battle. Points are awarded at the end only.
3. Check your event vehicle collection for eligible Rank I and II aircraft before assuming you need top-tier lineups.
4. Track your position against the two-day rotation, not the 21 September end date. The rotation is the real deadline.
5. If you're going to buy a stage, buy it at 95%, never before.

Our Moments of Valor: India guide covers how Gaijin structured its previous limited event, and our War Thunder news hub tracks each one as it opens.

Eighteen days is not long for 360,000 points

Event jets reward time more than skill, and the two-day stage rotation means the hours have to land inside specific windows rather than whenever you're free. Keep your stage progress moving through War Thunder boosting, where every order is handled manually by verified players and payment is only released once you confirm delivery, or book War Thunder hourly services to cover the specific rotation windows you can't play through yourself. If you'd rather come into the event with a lineup already suited to farming mission points at Rank III and above, browse War Thunder accounts and check the nations, Battle Rating and Silver Lion balance stated in each listing before ordering.

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