Welcome to my second installment as I continue my exploration of hyperspace and how our understanding of it has changed over the years. In the first installation, I focused on the basic mechanics of hyperspace that have been a foundation of our knowledge throughout. In this chapter, I will be delving into some of the history and lore surrounding hyperspace as well as methods used to interdict hyperspace travel.
History of Hyperspace Travel
As long ago as 1,000,000 BBY, hyperspace travel existed in the galaxy in the form of hyperspace tractor beams used by the Celestials. More recently, around 100,000 BBY, the Columi were travelling interstellar distances, but nothing is known about the drives they were using or if they traveled via hyperspace at all. Other contemporary species of the Columi, the Gree and the Kwa, used hypergates and infinity gates respectively, to travel between the worlds of their stellar domains. The remains of hypergates and infinity gates can still be found in the modern Star Wars eras though the knowledge of how to use them has been lost to time.
The Rakata species developed the first hyperdrive and this helped them to expand their Infinite Empire prior to 25,000 BBY. It wasn’t until a few centuries after the fall of the Rakata’s empire that other species began to reverse-engineer their hyperdrives. These first of the modern hyperdrives were developed by the humans of Corellia and the Duros. Prior to this, other species of the galaxy were using other technological means for long distance interstellar travel such as sleeper ships and hyperspace cannons.
Navicomputers were not widely available until approximately 4,000 BBY. Prior to this, starships had to rely on hyperspace beacons to obtain astrogation coordinates. Oftentimes, these beacons were part of or near a space station or hyperspace terminal to provide repairs and services for ships who wished to dock. Some of those old stations, for example, Darknon Station, still exist during the time of the Galactic Empire. Ships would make a hyperspace jump to a fixed beacon and communicate with the beacon to gain coordinates for the next leg of its journey. These beacons were only reliable as long as they were maintained and updated regularly by the Old Republic. Even in modern times hyperspace beacons are still used for traversing difficult hyperspace routes in some areas of space such as the Tapani Sector.
In 34 ABY, the First Order fired a superweapon from its Starkiller Base that utilized hyperspace to strike targets across the galaxy. The energy beam was said to travel through sub-hyperspace by tearing a hole in the dimensional fabric of hyperspace. The nature of this weapon enabled its effects to be seen by viewers across the galaxy as it happened instead of having to wait for the speed of light to view them.
Methods and Tactics of Interdicting Hyperspace Travel
Beings have attempted to stop ships travelling through hyperspace or prevent them from entering hyperspace since the early days of the Old Republic. Pirates and slavers would sometimes tamper with hyperspace beacons to redirect ships to deep space ambush points where they would be raided. In modern eras, pirates still attempt to raid ships by pulling them out of hyperspace along well-traveled trade routes. They accomplish this by towing an asteroid or celestial body into the spacelanes and wait for a ship’s hyperspace inhibitor to drop it out of lightspeed to avoid collision. These are some of the most basic ways to interfere with hyperspace travel and some of the lowest tech ways.
When we think of true interdiction technology, the Galactic Empire clearly leads the way. This totalitarian regime has perfected a variety of means and methods to stop, detain, and destroy ships in hyperspace or prevent them from escaping to hyperspace. These include the Interdictor-class heavy cruiser, Interdictor-class Star Destroyer, and the hyperspace pulsemass generator.
Both the Interdictor-class heavy cruiser, or Immobilizer 418 cruiser, and the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer are the modern successors to the Interdictor-class cruiser first built by the Old Republic in 3963 BBY. These ships all relied on an array of gravity well projectors to simulate the gravitic mass of a planet or other celestial body in order to pull ships out of hyperspace. Gravity well projectors could also be used to prevent ships in the vicinity from escaping to hyperspace unless they wanted to risk disabling their hyperspace inhibitor.
The hyperspace pulsemass generator is an experimental weapon developed by the Galactic Empire to destroy ships traveling in hyperspace. This device created a spread of hyperenergy spheres that could be deployed in an area of space to essentially mine it and prohibit ships from traveling through in hyperspace. Ships in realspace were unaffected by the hyperspace pulsemass generator while vessels in hyperspace would find themselves quickly destroyed by the hail of energy particles. This weapon’s utility was limited as the hyperenergy projectiles only lasted a few minutes thus requiring that you needed advance notice of when and where your target was travelling to be effective.
The Hapes Consortium utilized a gravity well mine, also called a pulsemass generator or pulse-gravity interdiction mine, to pull ships out of hyperspace or keep ships from escaping to hyperspace. These were deployed by Hapan warships to mine an area of space and function en masse in a way similar to a gravity well projector. They frequently used these to interdict smugglers and other unauthorized ships attempting to travel the Hapes Cluster.
Coming Next
In the third and final installment on this topic, I will review some of the instances we have seen in more recent television shows and movies that seemingly contradict what we know about hyperspace travel in Star Wars. I will give you my advice on how to adjudicate when your players want to attempt things once thought impossible regarding hyperspace at your game table. Until then, may the Force be with you!
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