Starship

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This article is about a vehicle for interstellar travel. For other uses see Starship (disambiguation)

One of the most famous fictional starships, the USS Enterprise from the television series Star Trek.

Artist's conception of the British Interplanetary Society design for Project Daedalus, a real-world concept.

A starship is a spaceship designed for interstellar travel, specifically between star systems. Space-going vessels that are not intended for travel between star systems are often referred to as spaceships.

This article focuses on starships as they are encountered in science fiction, as humanity has not yet constructed any true starships. Scientists and enthusiasts have however put forth serious proposals for interstellar travel, such as Project Daedalus.

1 Fictional types
2 Fictional elements
3 Famous fictional starships
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Fictional types

A common literary device is to posit a faster-than-light propulsion system (such as warp drive) or travel through hyperspace, although some starships may be outfitted for centuries-long journeys of slower-than-light travel. Other designs posit a way to boost the ship to near-lightspeed, allowing relatively "quick" travel (i.e. decades, not centuries) to nearer stars. This results in a general categorization of the kinds of starships:

Sleeper ships, which put their passengers into stasis during a long trip.
Generation ships, where the destination will be reached by descendants of the original passengers.
Relativistic ships, taking advantage of time dilation at close-to-light-speeds, so long trips will seem much shorter (but still take the same amount of time for outside observers).
Faster-than light ships, which can move between places very quickly (transcending current understanding of physics or using interdimensional 'shortcuts').

[edit] Fictional elements

Different authors and different stories will, of course, imagine different kinds of starships. Certain common elements are found in most fiction that discusses starships.

[edit] Slower-than-light ships

Fiction that discusses slower-than-light starships is relatively rare, since the time scales are so long. Instead of describing the interaction with the outside world, those fictions tend to focus on setting the whole story within the world of the (often very large) starship during its long travels. Sometimes the starship is a world, in perception or reality.

[edit] Faster-than-light ships

These starships are typically large, multi-passenger vehicles (cf starfighter). They range in size from small personal yachts and courier ships, up to vast bulk containers (used for intersystem shipping) and enormous warships.

Starships are usually depicted as operating under laws and guidelines similar to real-world seagoing vessels. The primary reason is that deep space is an even more hazardous environment than the deep sea, and so extreme caution must be taken in all starship operations. A side effect of this is that spacegoing fleets, especially space militaries, are usually organized similar to modern Earth navies.

Depending on original design, recent history, current intended use, local laws, space piracy, and the ethics of the current owner, a starship may be fitted with a wide variety of engines, weapons, equipment, and internal compartments. Small freighters used for smuggling are typically fast, modified to avoid detection, are often heavily armed, and may have secret holds for hiding contraband cargo. Large container ships usually have little in the way of shielding or weaponry, but have huge, powerful engines necessary for moving vast quantities of cargo through (or between) star systems.

Passenger vessels, often called "star liners" (similar in design to sea worthy luxury liners), are often similar to modern cruise ships, containing luxurious passenger cabins, gambling halls, showrooms, restaurants, and lounges. Warships contain crew quarters, extensive weaponry and shielding, massive engines, sophisticated sensor and communications arrays, and usually a detachment of non-naval Marine-like soldiers trained in assaulting and capturing enemy spacecraft, targets on planetary surfaces, or both.

[edit] Exceptions

Exceedingly large spacegoing craft (e.g. the Death Star) are typically not referred to as "starships" (but see 'slower-than-light ships' above). Terms like "artificial planetoid" may be considered to be more accurate.
Space stations and other structures intended to orbit a celestial body are not usually called starships, even if they can move under their own power.