Elite Dangerous’ third season, entitled Beyond, wraps up later this year. Frontier Developments are promising Beyond - Chapter Four will be the biggest Elite Dangerous update yet, with features like expanded asteroid belt mining, online squadrons, and a variety of new scanners and exploration tools being added. Check out a quick teaser for Elite Dangerous: Beyond - Chapter Four, below.

　　Here’s a detailed rundown of Beyond - Chapter Four’s major new features:

　　Mining

　　Asteroid belts and planetary rings are about to get very busy. New tools and mechanics will provide a fresh, exciting and lucrative mining experience for all Elite Dangerous Commanders. Using new exploration mechanics, miners can investigate rings to locate the best spots to start their mining sessions. With the right amount of skill and expertise, Commanders can create an awesome asteroid detonation before sweeping up the spoils.

　　Squadrons

　　Squadrons is a new way of uniting like-minded Commanders in Elite Dangerous. Players will be able to take part in Community Goals together and compete for top spots, and bragging rights, in weekly leaderboards. New communication tools such as in-game chat channels and a new web portal, give players the freedom to manage their Squadron and collectively blaze their trail across the galaxy.

　　Exploration

　　A new Analysis Mode, with the improved Exploration Discovery Scanner and Detailed Discovery Scanner, is a game-changing, brand new way for all Commanders to explore the galaxy. After an initial scan of the system, players will then be able to tune their scanners to find stellar bodies and other phenomena. Unidentified Signal Sources and conflict zones will also appear, allowing players to easily track down interesting or important things within the system. Not only is this new system a more realistic, satisfying and engaging exploration experience, but also provides players with the freedom to make more informed decisions on where to look next, and be ultimately better rewarded for time spent exploring.

　　Of course, the update will also include the usual array of smaller tweaks, and a variety of new ships. A beta for Beyond - Chapter Four kicks off for PC players on October 30. This will be a “staged beta” with key features being gradually rolled out over several weeks.

　　Frontier Developments will also be hosting a series of livestreams, detailing the update’s new features. Here's the schedule:

　　Exploration, Codex and Visual Improvements – 18 October (7pm BST)BGS and Scenario Interactions – 25 October (7pm BST)Squadrons – 30 October (7pm BST)Mining – 01 November (7pm BST)The Ships – 8 November (7pm GMT)Elite Dangerous is available on PC, Xbox One, and PS4. Beyond - Chapter Four will launch on all platforms later this year (likely sometime in November).