
This means that ships can easily escape any kind of trouble so long as their engines are working. Even if the jumps they make are relatively short, the only limiting factor is how quickly they can recharge for another one. Ships with this form of propulsion can travel truly massive distances. It’s most famously seen on Battlestar Galactica (BSG), but it appears in other stories as well, such as the Solar Clipper series by Nathan Lowell. The ship simply disappears from one place and reappears in another.

TeleportationĮven more extreme than the pocket dimension, there’s no travel time at all with this method.

In B5, it requires specially constructed gates for all but the largest ships. In Star Wars, ships can’t go into hyperspace within a planet’s gravity well. Because it’s such a powerful way to get out of trouble, there should be limits on when it can be used. There can be exceptions, but jumping to hyperspace will usually be a moment of relief. Usually, this means that activating the ship’s FTL drive makes it safe from attack. Exiting our universe completely, these ships tunnel through their own personal dimension to get where they need to go. This is the hyperspace of Star Wars and Babylon Five (B5). Since this universe won’t let us go FTL, let’s go to another one. They can still track you after you’ve kicked it up to full throttle. Another consequence is that going FTL is only an escape if you’re faster than the other guy. It can still scan the area ahead, * so it won’t be taken by surprise if there’s a hostile fleet lying in wait. While the ship accelerates to well past the speed of light, it never leaves normal space.

Despite the talk of warping space, this is essentially the Star Trek method. Your ship just pours on the speed, never mind what physics says. Getting around means you’ll have to massage your way past Einstein’s rule that nothing can go faster than the speed of light. What Is Your Ship’s FTL Propulsion Method? Each of these ships fulfills a different purpose and so has a different design. If your work features an important spaceship, then this is something you have to think about. Battlestar Galactica has… Battlestar Galactica.
