Space Transportation

Transit in space is divided between travel inside of colonized systems as well as outside of these same systems. Below the two categories are examined and the key technologies highlighted.

Extra-System Transit

Slipstream Burner

The Slipstreams are deep portions of the currents which underpin the universe. Through the use of gateway stations that provide the additional power and entry stabilization, ships retrofitted with Slipstream Burners are able to travel between the systems on those underlying currents.

These systems are the only viable long-distance option for travel between the systems. Using conventional means to travel would require such expense and time that no generation of people could make the journey even with the extended lifespans of the general population. Due to this a gateway, or transit station is the first thing built when mankind enters a system. Once the lanes are established for back-and-forth travel the efforts of interested colonists is made much easier.

While in the Slipstream it is best to allow the automated navigation systems to mitigate the course, and rely upon manual supervision as a quality check only. Exit and routing is facilitated by the entry and exit stations which read the incoming disturbances in the Slipstream and work to guide the ships out of the currents. Though it has never happened a ship could, in theory, be sucked further down-stream by the currents and end up lost if lacking the facilities to build a transit station of its own for reentry.

Intra-System Transit

Pulse Propulsion

Fueled by intermittent, on-off pulses these engines were some of the first created when men entered space, and have remained in use ever since. Now with more effective control and delivery systems, pulse systems can be found in use in many smaller, and older vessels. Depending upon the engine format, they often require more cumbersome fuels and materials than other engines.

Nuclear Drive

These systems are by far the some of most common in use today alongside Ion drives, relying upon continual or pulse style systems to produce output far beyond older engine capacity. Fueled by nuclear fusion engines such systems are largely self-contained, requiring minimal fuel recharges as cores are expended. The only limitation to these engines is their size, although the systems are shrinking as the years pass and now even small high-performance land-vehicles can be propelled by a smaller drive.

Ion Drive

Using streams of steady Ions these drives are widely used on almost all ships for specific propulsion and on many for normal thrust. Competing directly with nuclear and antimatter drives these engines are more easy to shrink, but draw on external power-sources and as such require that a ship holds vast external reserves of power in the form of generators or cells.

Solar Sail

Fast, and for all intensive purposes graceful these propulsion systems saw limited use in the early days of space travel, but have since returned with a vengeance. When expense and capacity were key the sails were turned to only in times where budgets couldn't afford other means of propulsion. Now however, the sails are used as a luxury item on many private cruiser yachts and in some instances on ultra-expensive cruise liners. The single largest sail in use is deployed on a long-term liner that transits the whole of the Sol system called Radiance.

Mass Driver - LANCE Systems

Research into electromagnetic acceleration has been going on since the 20th century and even now continues to advance. Currently the LANCE Corporation's holds the place of most used and known railgun. Indeed the corporation has long since lent its name to the device which has made it vastly rich. Other companies have made their own contributions. Nevertheless, the system is commonly referred to as The LANCE (or sometimes StarLANCE). The device is comprised of a launching station connected to a massive electromagnetic beltway. Payloads are lifted many miles into the upper atmosphere until their own engines can safely take over, putting them into a stable orbit. As one of the cheapest forms of space travel LANCE lines have evolved into a reliable arm of trade and transit.

Goods shipped via LANCE are fun to watch as they near their destination, where guide-ships swoop in and trolley the cargo the remainder of the voyage. Children are known to watch and play games to mimic the swooping and weaving of these trolleys as they work to quickly gather and move goods.