Orion's Arm - Encyclopedia Galactica

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Ships

Technology > Application > Transportation > Ships

Image from Copyright Kevin Williams

Without interstellar ships there could be no galactic civilization. Information transfer through light-speed links and nanoguage wormhole alone are not enough to bind the Civilized Galaxy together; physical transport by spaceship is also necessary. The type of ship design, function, and drive of interstellar transports have varied greatly throughout history and among the different polities, clades, cultures, and societies, but all have served a vital purpose. Nothing symbolizes Terragen civilization as perfectly as the Ship.

Sub-Topics

Classic Ships

Articles

Boostbeam - Text by Todd Drashner
Mass-beam based system used to accelerate or decelerate spacecraft without the use of onboard reaction mass.
Cargo Ships - Text by Steve Bowers and Damon Court
Freighter spacecraft.
Chillers - Text by John B
Chillers are a family of technologies used to reduce ship temperature (and, hence, IR radiation) to the background level.
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
Corvette - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A military warship of fairly small size, cheaper and more lightly armed than a destroyer, usually used for fleet or convoy escort, or for showing the flag or gunboat diplomacy in a smaller polity. The term is given different connotations and specifications in different empires; Dominion corvettes generally mass around 10,000 tonnes (most of that the drive core) and are about 80 meters in length. Terran Federation corvettes are about twice that size, more equivalent to a Dominion Light Fleet Escort ship.
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.
Cruiser - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A large (generally, over 100,000 tonnes), fast, heavily armed reactionless drive warship capable of both independent operations and of support of the main line of battle. Cruisers are intended to fulfill two diverse missions - in battle, they support and reinforce the Dreadnaughts, Autowars, and Battleships which are present and which form the main line of battle, generally from the flanks. They can also perform separate operations, often acting as the centre of task forces which have no other capital ship. Because of their size, Cruisers are only able to pass through the largest stargates; for this reason they are equipped for long periods of relativistic travel.
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.
Dreadnought (ship) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A Capital Ship of the largest scale (term now rarely used).
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.
Generation ship - Text by Steve Bowers
Huge, slow, self-contained interstellar ships taking more than one lifetime to arrive
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).
Gravity Tug - Text by Steve Bowers
Interstellar Singleship - Text by ROM 65536
A small, light duty interstellar craft that can be operated for long periods of time by a single individual.
Landers - Text by Steve Bowers
Craft designed to land on a planet; usually a secondary craft or module attached to or carried by a larger interplanetary or interstellar craft
Museum Ship - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Peripatetic curatorial sentient ships acquiring collections of objects, arranged along scientific or aesthetic lines, late Expansion period to present.
Muuh Iceship - Text by Steve Bowers
An interstellar spacecraft created by the Muuh from an icy object such as a comet.
Pacman Miner - Text by James Ramsay and Steve Bowers
Asteroid Mining Ships.
Propulsion Performance Statistics - Text by Mauk Mcamuk and Chris Shaeffer
Statistics for various kinds of Propulsion Technology used in the Orion Arm
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
Sensors for use in Space Combat and Defence - Text by Steve Bowers
Active and Passive sensors for space warfare and defence
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
Among the different interstellar empires and colonies, ship design and outer decoration varies widely.
Solar Moth - Text by Steve Bowers
Solar Thermal Rockets use sunlight to heat propellant.
Torch Ships - Text by Luke Campbell
External plasma drives
Worldship - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Huge nomadic interstellar ship, typically moving at 0.01 to 0.1 c, where relativistic effects are unimportant.