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====== Ship propulsion ======
 
Gravity drives generate distortions in local space-time that allow the spacecraft to 'surf' along them. The first mark of drive, [[timeline|developed in the 2100s]], could get a ship up to around 0.01c and the current mark III drive, in use on cutting-edge military ships, can hit [[travel times|0.03c]]. 

All but the very oldest ships with enough power capacity to make use of a gravity drive use an Alcubierre-derived wave inception system powered by [[power generation|fusion]]. Don't think about it too hard or it will turn out to be made of handwavium and tissue paper.

The power requirements for this kind of propulsion are immense and the size of the wave is proportional to the amount of power supplied to the drive; multi-kilometer vessels, or [[jumpgate|massive stationary facilities]] fed power by huge solar arrays and fusion plants, are the general minimum size to power the wave inception system, although smaller ships are able to ride the disturbance generated without expending much power. Because of this, fleets tend to have a primary gravity drive in the flagship, with the smaller ships equipped with much slower drives only suitable for moving within a planetary system. 

{{tag>technology}}

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