Orion's Arm - Encyclopedia Galactica - Interstellar Transport

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Interstellar Transport

Interstellar transport technologies include all those technologies related to the movement of cargo and passengers between star systems, distances of half a light year or more: true relativistic interstellar ships capable of making the entire voyage on their own, shorter range vessels made to travel via wormhole link that have a range measured in mere light hours or weeks rather than years, the network of traversable wormholes, the beamrider network, and all of the systems that power, support, or propel interstellar traffic.

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Articles

Akiyoshidai, The - Text by Anders Sandberg
Major arterial wormhole connecting Nova Terra and Djed.
Antimatter Catalysed Fusion - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Steve Bowers
Propulsion using fusion boosted by relatively small amounts of antimatter
Antimatter Propulsion - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Mark Mcamuk, Chris Shaeffer
Propulsion using antimatter rockets
Archangel Corvette - Text by Darren Ryding
One of a million transapient corvettes in the Archosaurian Empire, noted for the eerie cyan glow of their heat deflection armour.
Archangels are amat-powered craft each 80 metres in length, and are sometimes used for transporting large numbers of human-sized beings, small numbers of large dinosaurs, or any form of cargo. These ships are the basic flotilla co-ordinators of the Archosaurian fleet, primarily armed with gamma-ray lasers and amat missiles. They are frequently used for traversing wormholes, and several can carry the "jigsaw segments" of a high transapient virus (early versions of the model used this for the concerted attack on Vanguard in 7388 AT). Today, they are often seen escorting Dominators.
Arterial - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Major wormhole gate designed for particularly high volumes of interstellar traffic. As the name indicates, the arterials allow the flow of the lifeblood of interstellar civilization. Arterial wormholes tend to be very large - at least 3 km in diameter, to allow the enormous volume of traffic that passes through.
Beamed Energy Propulsion - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Mauk Mcamuk, Chris Shaeffer and Steve Bowers
Propulsion of craft using beamed energy, or by the use of mass particle streams
Beamrider Network - Text by Todd Drashner
Interstellar mass beam propulsion network first conceived in the late 20th and early 21st centuries c.e.; today there are more beamrider routes than wormholes in the galaxy as a whole
Bioship - Text by Steve Bowers
Bioships are either grown partially or entirely using biotechnology or by a close analogue to biological growth: they can be very similar in final composition to other ships but often look distinctively 'organic' in form.
Caretaker seed - Text by Anders Sandberg
Caretaker God ISOs are known to replicate quasi-neumann fashion. This is perhaps the reason why seemingly unconnected Caretakers have been able to appear across wide swathes of space, often in time to fortuitously snatch a unique world or solar system from the grasp of a local development polity or corporation. Here we see a Caretaker colonization "seed" with drive sail observed near the Triangulum Expanse. The seed, housed in a protective housing, is approximately 4 meters long, the sail 20 meters in diameter. The Penrose rhomboid patterning is a common identifier among Caretakers, with different Caretakers using subtly different patterns. This form of identification has spread to the Zoeific Biopolity and other bioist clades.
Cargo Ships - Text by Steve Bowers and Damon Court
Freighter spacecraft
Catapult, Interstellar - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Large, sometimes megascale electromagnetic mass driver which uses a magnetic charge to accelerate cargo to high velocity. Much cheaper than a magmatter catapult and widely used by interplanetary polities that are not connected to the wormhole nexus. Sometimes used to accelerate shuttles to assist in rendezvous with an interstellar cycler. For fast catapults, the use of ordinary electromagnetism rather than magmatter acceleration means that only sturdy cargo that can survive the crushing g-forces can be conveyed by all but the largest (and hence lowest acceleration) catapults.
Civilization Ship - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A massive ship holding vast amounts of data; originally designed as a protection against the collapse of civilisation.
Colony Ships - Text by Steve Bowers
Combat Carrier - Text by Todd Drashner
Class of relativistic warship designed to transport and support smaller combat craft over interstellar distances.

Combat carriers are produced by a number of different polities and come in a number of different designs reflecting the design philosophy of their creators and the needs of their specific mission. The following description should be thought of as a 'generic' design rather then an accurate reflection of all combat carriers everywhere.
Conspicuous Delight - Text by Chris Shaeffer
Halo drive ship of the Utopia Sphere empire
Conversion Drive - Text by Adam Getchell, Todd Drashner, Mark Mcamuk, and Chris Shaeffer
Conversion drives (or monopole catalyzed fusion drives, as they are more formally called) use magnetic monopoles to increase the efficiency of a standard fusion drive up to nearly 100% if so desired.
Creihtership - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, modified from original concept by Kevin Self
Slang term for Vedokiklek interstellar sub-relativistic (rarely relativistic) freighters (Klhkkteskkdv in the Vedokiklek language.
Cycler - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A ship or habitat that travels along an orbit or route in such a way that it rendezvous with other stations, orbitals, planets, or stars along the way.

Cyclers may be small or large, sparse or luxurious, slow or fast, interplanetary (also called an Aldrin Cycler) or interstellar (also called a Schroeder Cycler), completely passive (simple ballistic orbit) or with course correction drive units. Depending on the route and speed, a single cycle may take anywhere from a few months to many millennia.
Displacement Drive - Text by Adam Getchell, Todd Drashner, Mark Mcamuk, and Chris Shaeffer
Spacecraft containing, and propelled by, miniature space-time warps known as Void Bubbles.
Dominator Class Ship - Text by Darren Ryding
Dragonfly Class ship - Text by Steve Bowers
Dyaush Interstellar Colony Ship - Text by Steve Bowers
Early interstellar colony ship
Einstein Bridge - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Wormhole linking Sol System and Tau Ceti. It is the oldest macroscopic wormhole still in operation and, apart from a period during the Version War when it was shut down, it has been in continuous operation since the middle Expansion Age.
En'en Suifu and Tattoi Jueru - Text by Chris Shaeffer
Two famous bioships in the service of the Zoeific Biopolity.
Engenerator Technology - Text by Steve Bowers
Technology which allows uploaded personalities to be transferred into physical bodies, sometimes at interstellar distances.
Explorer Class - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Long range, rugged and reliable self-repairing amat-powered exploration vessel used during the First Federation period. Some remained in service as late as the Empires age, and even today Explorer Class vessels little different from the original design are popular among many minor and independent clades, especially in the outer volumes.
External Pulse Drives - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Mauk Mcamuk and Chris Shaeffer
Propulsion using pulses of plasma external to the spacecraft
Fusion Drive - Text by M.Alan Kazlev, Mark Mcamuk, Chris Shaeffer, Steve Bowers
Propulsion using nuclear fusion energy
Generation ship - Text by Steve Bowers
Huge, slow, self-contained interstellar ships taking more than one lifetime to arrive
God Web, The - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Steve Bowers
That part of the Nexus and the Known Net which is used by archailects (SI:4 and above)
Grapeships - Text by Anders Sandberg
Grapeships are the most common wormhole nexus passenger and cargo liners in the Inner Sphere and along the main wormhole routes. The ship consists of a "stem" onto which bulbous shuttles are attached (giving them their name due to their similarity to grape bunches).
Halo Drive - Text by Todd Drashner, Adam Getchell
At Singularity level:5 Void Bubbles can be coupled to the craft using gravity and magnetic forces, and a halo of void bubbles can be established at the front of the ship, essentially dragging the vessel along behind it in real space.
Herders - Text by Steve Bowers and Juan Ochoa
Small or ultrasmall automated ships which accompany mass streams of neumanns and other valuable commodities through space to their destination.
Interstellar Singleship - Text by ROM
Juggernaut Class - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, additions by Steve Bowers
Excluding the Keterist battle-moons (which are more ISO than Capital Ship), these are the largest warships ever built in Terragen history. The approach of a Juggernaut Class vessel is an awesome sight: a cylinder some 280 kilometres in length and twenty five kilometres in diameter, accompanied by a swarm of giant autowars that are dwarfed to apparent mote-size by their parent vessel.
Kepler Arc - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Important wormhole connecting Djed and Kepleria.
Kuranaba Gate - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Originally 75 meter, now 150 meter gauge Wormhole connecting Kuranaba and Big Tor. There is talk of this being further upgraded to 250 meters.
Laser Sail, Maser Sail - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Very thin ultra-light multi-square-kilometer (up to several 100 km in diameter) sail-based propulsion system used to reflect beamed laser or maser energy (up to thousands of terawatts of energy), allowing a reasonable rate of acceleration with no on-board reaction mass.
Linelayer - Text by Steve Bowers
Specialised spacecraft used to transport wormhole mouths to distant locations
Macoss Habitat/Ship - Text by Ben Higginbottom
Interplanetary age habitat with a culture heavily influenced by anime
Magellanica - Text by Anders Sandberg
the first interstellar colony ship from the Federated South America Space Alliance (Gran Colombia, Federation of Brazil and the Argentinian States).
Muuh ice ship - Text by Steve Bowers
An interstellar spacecraft created by the Muuh from an icy object such as a comet.
Nanostasis - Text by Steve Bowers with comments by John B
A means of preserving biological life in suspended animation over long journeys or in unsatisfactory environments.
Podship - Text by Thorbjørn Steen
Propulsion Performance Statistics - Text by Mauk Mcamuk and Chris Shaeffer
Statistics for various kinds of Propulsion Technology used in the Orion Arm
Pyrenian Klarion Explorer Seedship - Text by Thorbjørn Steen
Ramscoop and RAIR ships - Text by Steve Bowers, Tim Weaver and Todd Drashner
The Bussard Ramscoop concept, Ram Augmented Interstellar Rocket ships and other Magnetic Scoop devices
Reactionless Drives - Text by Todd Drashner and Adam Getchell
Propulsion without reaction mass; some technical details
Red (Tau Ceti Colony Ship) - Text by Anders Sandberg, adapted by Steve Bowers
Relay001 - Text by Todd Drashner
The first major wormhole plexus and relay system built in the Inner Sphere. Became the model for later Relay systems.
Seedship - Text by Steve Bowers
Interstellar vessel carrying embryos, gametes or digitised DNA in order to raise humans or other modosophonts on arrival using robotic parents
Ship Design: Shielding - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Mauk Mcamuk and Chris Shaeffer
Protection against radiation and particle collision during interstellar flight
Ship Style and Decoration - Text by M Alan Kazlev and Anders Sandberg, additions by Steve Bowers
Solar and Microwave Passive Propulsion - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Microwave and optical laser and solar sails have the attractiveness of providing a virtually engineless and fueless craft; photons simply provide the momentum necessary to send the spacecraft to its proper destination. But as with every form of space ship propulsion these, too, have their share of disadvantages: pointing accuracy of laser-driven probes, dependence on ground infrastructure for laser or maser launched and propelled ships, low intensity of solar light outside the solar system for solar sails, ultra-low payload mass (which makes them perfect for nanoprobes but very inefficient at larger scales), vulnerability of the huge sails (hundreds of square kilometers) to accumulative micrometeoriod damage, etc.
Spacetime Catapult - Text by Anders Sandberg
Large, even megascale structure which uses magmatter accelerators to launch cargo to relativistic or near-relativistic velocity. The cost of construction and maintenance is extremely high, meaning only fairly developed and rich systems that are not part of the nexus can afford them.
Starlark, The - Text by Steve Bowers
Void Ships - Text by Todd Drashner and Adam Getchell
Reactionless craft developed and used by the Highest Archailects; the vessel is apparently entirely enclosed within a Void Bubble.
Weylforge - Text by Todd Drashner
A Weylforge is an array of devices handling different aspects of wormhole construction.
Worldship - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Huge nomadic interstellar ship, typically moving at 0.01 to 0.1 c, where relativistic effects are unimportant.
Wormhole Nexus, The - Text by Anders Sandberg and M. Alan Kazlev
Wormhole Termini - Text by Steve Bowers, Luke Campbell and Todd Drashner 2009
Wormhole stations located near, and within, wormholes
Wormholes - Cultural Factors - Text by Anders Sandberg, and Todd Drashner
Wormholes- A Layman's Guide - Text by Todd Drashner and Adam Getchell
Technical details about wormholes in the Orion Arm
Yi Sun Sin (System Control Ship) - Text by Aaron Hamilton, adapted by Steve Bowers