Beta 3 for Elite: Dangerous has been dated, beta 2 now available

Beta 2 for Elite: Dangerous is now available, and along with the news, Frontier Developments has announced dates for beta 3.

Today's beta update contains major updates to the game such as new ships, new outposts and more of the galaxy has been unlocked.

Here's a list of highlights:

• New progression, with combat ratings from ‘Harmless’ up to ‘Elite’.
• Reputations per system and per faction that influence attitudes and prices offered to players.
• 570 star systems and 381,033 cubic light years to explore.
• Discovery, exploration and charting of new systems and the option to trade gathered data.
• Detailed system maps.
• New Outposts (small, exposed ‘roadside café’ stations in remote systems).
• New Ocellus starport.
• Further upgradeable Life Support modules, Engines, Hyperdrives, Power Distributors, Sensors, Shield Generators and Cargo Racks for all ships.
• New weapons, including mines and a Cargo Hatch Limpet built for non-lethal piracy.
• Visibility of other ships in supercruise, and the ability to track pilots through supercruise and hyperspace.
• In-game GalNet newsfeed, reporting story events from around the galaxy and each system.
• Gradual ‘wear and tear’ on ships.
• New Lakon Asp Explorer ship.
• All backers names from the appropriate crowd-funding reward tiers have been added to the NPC naming database.

The update also contains improvements and optimizations including "additional rock, ice and metal-rich planetary rings, new music, optional ‘simulator’ tutorials and optional pre-flight control checks."

The addition of SLI/Crossfire support also allows play in 4K with appropriate hardware as well.

Beta 3 will be released on October 28, and features and additions included in it will be announced over the coming weeks.

Elite: Dangerous will be released in Q4 2014.