Hyperdrive

Technology

The speed at which a vessel travels via hyperdrive is dependant on the intensity of the subspace field it can generate. This, in turn, is largely dependant on power generation. Increasing the power to a hyperdrive, such as with a Zero Point Module or the instability of naquadria, vastly increases the ship's rate of movement through hyperspace. Conversely, increasing the size of the subspace field to accommodate a larger vessel requires a corresponding increase in power. This makes it significantly easier to propel small ships such as the X-302 or a Tel'tak through hyperspace, and works to the advantage of compact vessels like the BC-303 and BC-304 by contrast to a Goa'uld Ha'tak. Advanced cultures such as the Ancients and Asgard overcome these obstacles through advanced forms of power generation.

Interstellar

Hyperdrives can broadly be described as either Intergalactic or Interstellar. In Tau'ri parlance, an Interstellar Hyperdrive is one that can propel a craft through hyperspace at speeds of less than 0.1 lightyears per second, or 320,000 times the speed of light. These are hyperspace speeds where a journey from the Milky Way to a neighbouring galaxy - such as Pegasus - would take multiple years. The Asgard hyperdrive installed aboard the Prometheus after the Battles of Antarctica and Orilla could achieve speeds of 0.05 ly/s, fast enough to reach the Pegasus Galaxy in a little under two years; though the drives on the subsequent BC-304 battlecruisers were nearly forty times faster.

The Ancients installed Interstellar Hyperdrives aboard their Cruisers and Battleships, such as the Aurora and Tria. This technology was reverse-engineered by both the Goa'uld and the Wraith as the propulsion system for their starships. A Goa'uld Ha'tak could travel at 0.01 ly/s, though due it's smaller size and mass a Goa'uld scout ship could travel at almost 0.02 ly/s. Due to the vast size of a Wraith Hive Ship, it's hyperdrive could only achieve a speed of 0.001 ly/s, though due to the harmful effects of hyperspace radiation on Wraith biotechnology, hyperdrive travel could only be sustained for around nine hours before an extended recovery time was required, reducing the Hive's effective speed to around 0.0005 ly/s across large distances.

Intergalactic

In Tau'ri parlance, and Intergalactic Hyperdrive is one that can propel a craft through hyperspace at speeds in excess of 1 lightyear per second, or over 3,200,000 times the speed of light. Such hyperspace speeds allow a ship to complete a journey between galaxies in a matter of days, rather than months or years. The current iteration of Asgard hyperdrive aboard a BC-304 like the Daedalus is capable of achieving speeds of 2 ly/s, allowing it to travel between Earth and Atlantis in a little over seventeen days. With its power generation supplemented by a Zero Point Module, however, a BC-304 can complete the same journey in as little as three and a half days.

Advanced cultures such as the Ancients and Asgard are known to possess hyperspace technology that performs even faster. The older Asgard Chariot vessels of the Asgard Fleet, such as the Biliskner were known to be capable of achieving close to 150 ly/s, while the more advanced O'Neill-class of Asgard Cruiser could reach speeds in excess of 200 ly/s - a speed that could be matched by an Ancient City-Ship with a full compliment of ZPMs.