The interstellar ram-jet harvests the rarefied hydrogen atoms between fixed stars to cause a fusion reaction to propel the ship. No internal feul source is requitred. Such fusion can ideally produce an acceleration of 1 G, but is only practical in regions of dense gas, such as certain nebula. Technical problems with the magnetic field strength also prevent the rocket from atatining relativistic speeds, although velocities of upto 0.5 c are viable.
Old-fashioned Bussard ramjets still remain a cheap and useful form of interstellar transport in and around the colonised regions of the Orion cloud complex, the Aquila rift and the rho ophiuichi volumes
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