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Propulsion systems are powered by fuel refined from tylium ore. The ship's primary propulsion systems, referred to as "sublight engines", allow it to travel at a slight fraction of the speed of light, which is sufficient to traverse the distances between planets in a solar system in relatively short timeframes. The secondary system, called a faster-than-light drive (or "FTL"), that enables a ship to travel interstellar distances almost instantaneously, by "folding up space" in between the ship and its destination. Since, under normal circumstances, a ship that has used its FTL drive cannot be followed without explicit information about its destination, this technology is used extensively in strategic and tactical manuevers.

Sublight propulsion

Sublight propulsion is convenient for intra-solar system travel (such as to or from the planets that comprise the Twelve Colonies), but cannot be used for travel outside of a solar system as the time to arrive at a destination may exceed the fuel supply of the ship or the lifetime of the crew that fly the ship.

Vipers are equipped with a thrust reversal system to counteract or arrest their forward momentum .

The law of conservation of momentum requires that any propulsion system which adds momentum to a spacecraft or missile in one direction must equal the amount of momentum that is imparted in the opposite direction to something else, as in the example of the controlled combustion of rocket fuel creating thrust in the opposite direction of a ship's or missile's movement. Mjolnir, for example, possesses two very large thrusters on the bow of the ship to counteract the force of the main engines.

Faster-Than-Light travel

FTL is a acronym for Faster-Than-Light. The term refers to a means of interstellar propulsion. A common shorthand term for FTL travel is "jumping", as this space-folding drive involves making instantaneous "jumps" across vast distances in space.

FTL jump

The FTL drive makes interstellar travel possible. However, not all ships — from small to large — are outfitted with these drives.

The technology behind FTL systems is such that, providing the relevant data is known, ships can jump with a high degree of accuracy, allowing ships to rendezvous in space and even "park" in a synchronous orbit directly above a given point on a planet's surface. Proper FTL use even enables vessels to arrive in crowded areas, such as the middle of an asteroid field or other ships, without the risk of collision and damage. .

Colonial Limitations

1. Colonial FTL systems are not small-scale, and cannot be installed into vehicles such as the Viper. They can, however, be used on vehicles the size of a Raptor, which is limited to brief, short-distance jumps. Raptors can make a sequence of short FTL "hops" in a row, to reach the same destination as a capital ship with a full-sized FTL drive.
2. Colonial FTL systems cannot be used multiple times over a long period of time, for they are prone to breakdown after excessive, repetitive use.
3. FTL jumps can apparently induce nausea or discomfort in some people.
4. When "jumping" the Colonial drive systems are limited in size; this defines the maximum size to which a colonial vessel can be built .
5. Colonial FTL systems appear to be a holdover from the Exodus from Kobol, and their current designs have been developed to meet the needs of jumping between the Twelve Colonies, and their outposts in other star systems. Colonial FTL capabilities have defined limits, referred to as the Red Line, beyond which jumps may not be possible / could result in damage to a vessel's drive system / lead to navigational inaccuracies that might put the ship at risk.
6. Navigators must be careful to plan FTL jump paths in order to keep a safe distance from planets or other large objects .
7. "Spooling up" a Colonial FTL drive takes at least 20 minutes when the drive has been offline. Because of this, when ships enter dangerous situations, they keep their FTL drives "spun up."

FTL: "Folding Space"

The FTL drive technology is be based on the use of Superstring Theory and M-Theory that essentially enable the "jump drive" systems to "fold" space, reducing the distance between any two points by creating a "corridor" through space that links them together . Such "corridors" are allowed by the general theory of relativity; what M-Theory does is provide a way to change the topology of space-time dynamically.

The use of such wormholes is based on the tenet that space is curved. Hence the term "wormhole", which arises from the analogy that space can be seen as an apple. A worm can travel from one side of the apple to the other in two ways:

• By crawling over the surface, or
• By burrowing through the apple (creating a "wormhole").

Obviously, the second option is considerably shorter than the first.