Spaceship

A spaceship is a spacecraft NOT equipped with a jump drive. q.v. starship.

• They are also called boats.

Description (Specifications)

A spaceship is a spacecraft without a jump drive. Spaceships are often carried on Starships for star system usage (e.g. Shuttles, Fighters), and are sometimes transported interstellar distances by a special starship constructed specifically for that purpose (e.g. Battle Rider, Battle Tender).

• Please see Civilian Starship Types or Military Starship Types for more information.

History & Background (Dossier)

There is no question that a starship equipped with an FTL jump drive is vastly more capable than a spaceship limited to intrasystemic travel so why use them? The simple, direct answer is cost. Jump drives are prohibitively expensive and require advanced technology to maintain and operate. An interstellar polity can typically afford to operate several spaceships for every starship it employs.

Military Spaceships

The volume requirement of jump drive fuel has not escaped military theorists, who have employed strategies not employing jump drives:

• Picket Theory (Defense, Intel)
• Monitor Theory (Defense)
• System Defense Boat Theory (Defense)
• Battle Rider Theory (Offense)

Representative Sampling

• Gigs
• Fighters
• Riders
• Shuttles
• System Defense Boats

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

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• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science