Alternative FTL Drive

Alternative FTL Drives are interstellar transport technologies.

The canon FTL Drives within the Traveller Charted Space setting are the Jump Space Drives (the Jump Drive in particular).
Some "Exotic" FTL Drives are conjectural within the canon of the Traveller Charted Space setting at very high TL.
All other FTL transportation methods are Alternate.

Description (Specifications)[edit]

Some sophont species employ other technologies enabling interstellar FTL flight.

Conjectural / Exotic Drive Technologies[edit]

Within Charted Space (at very high TL), there is some evidence that the following drive systems may be theoretically feasible, and that certain Precursor races (et al) may have employed one or more of the following forms of FTL propulsion: ^[1]

Hieronymous Drive
"Inertialess Drives":
- Inertialess Drive ("I_M -Drive")
- Triplanetary Drive ("I_T -Drive")
Alcubierre Drive (aka the "Albuquerque Drive")
Improbable Drive
Reality Drive

Alternate Technologies[edit]

The following alternative FTL drive technologies have been speculated about within Charted Space, but there is no real evidence that such systems are plausible outside the writings of Imperial Science Fiction literature. ^[2]

Hyperspace Drive or Subspace Drive: A Hyperspace Drive is based on entering a different space (AKA Hyperspace or Subspace) and using conventional propulsion.
Keyhole Drive: A Keyhole Drive harnesses technology to either artificially create and open or expand an existing pinched-off naturally occurring wormhole in order to create a stable Einstein-Rosen Bridge, permitting safe passage through to the far side of the spacetime structure.
Singularity Drive: A Singularity Drive (or Degeneracy Drive) utilizes the immense potential energy released by the infalling matter of a carried on-board massive artificial singularity to generate propulsive power either from directed and focussed Hawking radiation and/or controlled microquasar formation, or by virtue of the implementation of a photonic Halo Drive.
Space Folding Drive: A Space Folding Drive is a hypothetical form of FTL travel which causes space to be folded between the point of origin and the point of destination, creating a momentary portal between the origin and destination points through which the ship travels.
StutterDrive or Stutterwarp: A StutterDrive is a rapidly pulsed jump drive with the jump taking microseseconds, and the jump distance only a very short distance forward - such as less than a light second. Doing this 100 times a second creates the illusion of rapid FTL movement in normal space, although doppler reflections indicate the object is at rest; this is thus a pseudo-movement. The Traveller:2300AD setting depends exclusively on Stutterwarp.
Teleport Drive: A Teleport Drive is a drive in which the ship immediately teleports itself from one point to another, with or without passing through some kind of gate.
Warp Drive: A Warp Drive is one of a class of drives that achieve FTL propulsion either by warping spacetime or a subspace field in some fashion, one of the most common configurations of which is an Alcubierre Drive (see above) based on creating a contraction of spacetime in front of the ship while simultaneously expanding spacetime behind it, so that the speed of light is effectively circumvented without actually changing the momentum of the vessel.

This classification is based on the 'effect', not on the cause or the scientific theory behind it.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

No information yet available.

Library Data Referral Tree[edit]

Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information:

Starships:

Speed-of-Travel

Speed of Travel

NAFAL (STL) - (Not As Fast As Light) / (Slower Than Light)
Light Speed (c)
FTL - (Faster Than Light) - "Superluminal"

Astronomical Unit (AU)

» Imperial Standard Astronomical Unit

» Solomani Parsec

» Vilani Parsec ("Deshi")

» Imperial Standard Parsec

Impulse-Drives

Spacecraft Drives (Interplanetary Drives)

Reaction Drives:

Reaction Rockets:

Impulse Drives:

(Field Drives / Propellantless Drives)

Z-Drive (Lifter / <1.0 D)
G-Drive (Gravity Drive / <10.0 D)
M-Drive (Maneuver Drive or Thruster Plate / <1000.0 D)
N-Drive (NAFAL Drive / <¹/₈ ly)

Reactionless Drives:

T-Drive (Reactionless Thruster: Gyroscopic Inertial Thruster (GIT) or Dean Space-Thruster Drive)

Interstellar-Drives (Advanced)

Starship Drives (Interstellar Drives)

N-Drive (NAFAL Drive / < ¹/₈ ly)
Jump Space Drives

J-Drive - Jump Drive (JD₀: "0th" Order Jump Space Drive / > 100 D)
H-Drive - Hop Drive (HD₁: 1st Order Jump Space Drive / > 1000 D)
S-Drive - Skip Drive (SD₂: 2nd Order Jump Space Drive / > 10,000 D)
L-Drive - Leap Drive (LD₃: 3rd Order Jump Space Drive / > 100,000 D)
B-Drive - Bound Drive (BD₄: 4th Order Jump Space Drive / > 1,000,000 D)
V-Drive - Vault Drive (VD₅: 5th Order Jump Space Drive / > 10,000,000 D)

D₆-Drive - "Six Drive" (D₆: 6th Order Jump Space Drive / > 100,000,000 D)
D₇-Drive - "Seven Drive" (D₇: 7th Order Jump Space Drive / > 1,000,000,000 D)
D₈-Drive - "Eight Drive" (D₈: 8th Order Jump Space Drive / > 10,000,000,000 D)
D₉-Drive - "Nine Drive" (D₉: 9th Order Jump Space Drive / > 100,000,000,000 D)

Hieronymous Device ("Jump Potentiator" / "Jump Exponentiator")

Conjectural Drives

"Inertialess Drives":

» Inertialess Drive ("I_M -Drive")

» Triplanetary Drive ("I_T -Drive")

Alternative Interstellar Drive Technologies

Alternative FTL Drive

» Hyperspace Drive

» Keyhole Drive

» Singularity Drive

» Space Folding Drive

» Stutterdrive

» Teleport Drive

» Warp Drive

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

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T5 Core Rules
Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science

↑ These propulsion systems have at least been mentioned, if not detailed, by Marc W. Miller or listed in the T5.10 Core Rules and are implied to be possible for extremely high TL within the Charted Space setting.
↑ These propulsion systems do not properly belong to the Charted Space setting but are certainly found in other Science Fiction settings or are free to be introduced at the gaming table by individual referees at their own discretion. Note that Stutterwarp is also a GDW/Far Future Enterprises invention for the 2300AD setting.

[1] These propulsion systems have at least been mentioned, if not detailed, by Marc W. Miller or listed in the T5.10 Core Rules and are implied to be possible for extremely high TL within the Charted Space setting.

[2] These propulsion systems do not properly belong to the Charted Space setting but are certainly found in other Science Fiction settings or are free to be introduced at the gaming table by individual referees at their own discretion. Note that Stutterwarp is also a GDW/Far Future Enterprises invention for the 2300AD setting.

[1]

[2]