Ripple Drive

The ripple drive is a spacetime-warping technology which allows for faster-than-light travel without breaking the laws of einsteinian relativity. The ripple drive, when engaged, emits high frequency graviton pulses, which creates a "ripple" in space-time, much like a pebble thrown into a pond creates ripples on the water's surface. This allows a spacefaring vessel to surf across the wave-peaks of compressed space, essentially circumventing wide swaths of space on the way to its destination.

The ripple drive's efficiency is directly correlated to the total mass of the vessel it moves: a larger mass requires a larger drive and a larger energy expenditure. A ship's actual momentum is still provided by its relativistic-space propulsion systems (typically antigraviton engines and thrusters), and the vessel is still subject to newtonian laws of motion. This means that even with the ripple drives space-bending capabilities, larger ships are still typically slower relative to smaller ones.

Total travel time is also affected by heat management. While engaged, a ripple drive core continuously builds up a tremendous amount of heat and radiation that must be dissipated to prevent core meltdowns. This requires frequent cooldown periods at relativistic speeds. As a result, any long space voyage will typically consist of a number of sub-light stretches interspersed with quick FTL jumps.