Hyperspace / Legends Hyperspace ( called darkspace by the Yuuzhan Vong ) was the alternate state of existence used by starships to achieve faster - than - light travel . An alternate dimension of space - time that could only be entered at faster - than - light speeds using a hyperdrive , hyperspace was coterminous with realspace , with a unique point in realspace being associated with a unique point in hyperspace . While a number of aspects of hyperspace remained mysterious to astrophysicist s and astrogation experts , it was clear that hyperspace shortened travel times , allowing starships equipped with hyperdrives to cross light - year s in a matter of minutes . Consequently , hyperspace travel was the backbone of the galactic community , commerce and trade , politics and warfare . Technical background . Normally , baryonic matter in realspace would obey physical principles of relativity : it would increase asymptotically in mass as it accelerated towards the speed of light , requiring more and more energy to approach it , but even at infinite values never surpassing the speed of light threshold . Tachyonic matter , on the other hand , existed at values solely above the speed of light , and could not decrease lower than the light - speed barrier . Hyperdrive technology allowed sentients to bypass this barrier , making use of a trans - physical effect to create ripples in space - time . A hyperdrive - equipped ship would propel off these ripples to " jump " into hyperspace , allowing it to traverse the galaxy at speeds of hundreds or even thousands of times the speed of light . Hyperspace was an alternate dimension of space - time , similar to subspace or otherspace , that was coterminous with realspace : each point in realspace was associated with a unique point in hyperspace . Essentially , a ship traveling galactic north in realspace as it jumped to hyperspace would travel north in hyperspace too . Every object in realspace , like stars or planets , also had a " shadow " in hyperspace at the same location it occupied in realspace . History . The principles of Hyperspace travel were first discovered by the ancient Rakata . The Rakatan Force - enabled drives allowed them to create a galaxy - spanning empire . Some of the earliest hyperspace - utilizing artifacts ( such as strange arches , matter transmitters found on ruined worlds , or the Gree hypergate s ) , cannot be replicated by modern hyperdrive technology . Corellians and Duros were the earliest able to create technological versions of the Force - enhanced Rakatan devices through reverse engineering , allowing them to build the first true hyperdrives . Consequently , despite common usage , relatively little is known about the true nature of hyperspace . Popular theories say that hyperspace utilizes another dimension to " sidestep " , as it were , the light " speed limit " . Others theorize that it phases matter directly into another universe , similar to otherspace or subspace , and thus gain superlight speeds . Whatever the case , many complex scientific principles were known to modern hyperdrive engineers which allowed for myriad different uses of this faster - than - light phenomenon . For the first 21 , 000 years or so of the Galactic Republic , hyperspace coordinates were plotted with the aid of hyperspace beacon s , space stations placed in open space , distant from gravity wells , where ships would download data provided by the Republic Spacelane Bureau . Around the time of the Mandalorian Wars , navicomps replaced the beacons , making hyperspace navigation much more autonomous . Hyperdrive usage . A starship utilizing a hyperdrive had to go through a fixed , routine process . After the course was plotted in the navigation computer , the ship moved to the bearing matching that course and activated the hyperdrive . The ship then seemed to accelerate so rapidly that passengers within the vessel saw the stars stretched into parallel lines during the " jump " to Hyperspace . This apparent acceleration was also observable from outside the vessel , where a ship jumping to Hyperspace would appear to undergo a sudden , massive burst of speed and disappear from the physical universe . This phenomenon is referred to as pseudomotion . When Hyperspace is entered , the starship has left the conventional universe , or realspace . At hyperspeed , the entire visible universe is seen as a blue - shaded corridor of mottled high - speed blur , indicative of the other - dimensional nature of Hyperspace . In Hyperspace , a ship is effectively cut - off from all normal methods of scanning and detection . Hyperdriving of a ship ( for example , the T - 65 X - wing starfighter ) was done by submitting coordinates to a navicomputer , either manually or by being received by wireless transmissions ; Rogue Squadron , among many others , used this kind of transmission so that all ships in a group or fleet utilized the same coordinates for a mission . Coordinate calculation was a dangerous task , for if a vessel in hyperspace traveled too close to a black hole , star , or other gravity well , they would be forced out of hyperspace . Intrasystem hyperspace travel via " micro - jumps " was rare , but was sometimes used strategically . Because of the inherent dangers of hyperspatial navigation , highly traveled routes were close to inhabited systems . In the event of a navigation error or hyperdrive equipment malfunction , proximity to starports or inhabited systems meant it was unlikely one would be stranded with only sublight power and limited provisions . Usually problems came in the form of mistakes in calculating navigation coordinates or incomplete and outdated information in regard to significant gravitic bodies . Trying to find a ship that had re - entered realspace due to a malfunction or at an undetermined location was a nearly impossible task , as the many who sought the legendary Katana fleet across the vast tracts of open space learned . Hazards . When moving at speeds many times the speed of light , there were many dangers . While any collision or interference at this state can be potentially fatal , the effects of gravitational pull on a starship could be particularly devastating , thus a course had to be plotted outside the " mass shadow " or gravity well of large celestial bodies . This was exploited in many ways through the ages . Hyperspace courses were often plotted using a planet ' s mass as a backstop , with the hyperdrive ' s safety systems automatically stopping the ship as it reached the farthest point of possible travel . Hyperspace collisions , whether they be intentional or by accident , could devastate or even destroy a planet . Considering the fact that the output of the reactors of many Capital ships rivaled or eclipsed that of a star , and that the energies needed to make hyperspace travel possible were vast , one could unleash a great deal of destructive power on a target . Even if a planet had its planetary shielding up at the time of a hyperspace collision , it could still have the potential to kill millions on a world such as Coruscant just due to the fallout . One of the more famous hyperspace accidents occurred during the Clone Wars , when the battlecruiser " Quaestor " collided with the Separatist planet Pammant , fracturing it to its core . Gravity generators could be used to create an artificial interdiction field which stopped hyperspace travel in a particular area by mimicking the outer fringes of a celestial body ' s gravity , useful for both pulling ships out of hyperspace en route and preventing enemies from escaping to lightspeed during engagement . Less affluent groups , such as pirates , dragged large asteroids ( or planetoids ) into trade routes in lieu of the generator or starship method , providing them with both a means to stop shipping and a temporary base or shield against hostile fire . Black holes were a constant menace . At least a few vessels each year were destroyed by the several " wandering " black holes in real space . Their near infinite gravity wells could be catastrophic to craft that passed too close . Outside the bounds of a vessel ' s shielding , hyperspace itself was a lethal environment to any realspace species . Being blown out of the airlock of a vessel while in hyperspace was a more effective way to kill an individual than exposing that individual to the vacuum of realspace . An individual could survive in an escape pod ejected in hyperspace , but if the pod lacked a hyperdrive of its own , reversion to realspace would be impossible . Even staring at hyperspace from the observation deck of a starship for a prolonged amount of time could produce " hyper - rapture " , a form of madness , in a being , or so the legends stated . As there was something fundamentally wrong with viewing the higher - dimensional universe , standard Imperial operating procedure was to keep the transparisteel opaqued during travel through hyperspace . However , Darth Vader enjoyed staring at the kaleidoscopic and swirling patterns of light , and Cronal found it soothing to stare into what he thought of as the emptiness outside the universe . When a jump was attempted utilizing a damaged hyperdrive , a starship could be stuck in a " crossroad " of space : halfway into hyperspace , and half in realspace . An example of this was the Sith dreadnaught " Harbinger " . The unfortunate ship , after some quick thinking by the ship ' s captain , Saes Rrogon , was propelled 5 , 000 years into the future , to the time of Luke Skywalker ' s Jedi Order . Effects on sensors and comms . In addition to navigational hazards , there was also the difficulty inherent in communicating with a starship while traveling at hyperspeed . Since ships in hyperspace did not exist , in a conventional sense , they were largely cut off from conventional radio or subspace communication , since wavelengths of any signal would be massively distorted even if they reached the vessel . Hypercomm signals could reach a vessel in hyperspace , however it was very difficult to communicate in even this fashion unless the signal was sent from one end or the other of the traveling ship ' s course , or between ships on the same course . The same difficulties presented to communication also applied to sensors ; it was nearly impossible to maintain sensor lock on a vessel in hyperspace , which made escape to lightspeed a very robust retreat option in most engagements . The only option available for pursuit was generally to plot several courses along the target ' s last known vector , and try to guess where the ship would come out of hyperspace for course corrections . This was generally a losing strategy , of course , since most ships wishing to avoid pursuit would plot a short jump , followed by a longer one to the destination at a different vector before enemies could arrive . The best option was to place a homing beacon on the enemy ship , but at large distances only HoloNet - equipped tracking devices were useful , and these were fantastically expensive . An interesting phenomenon associated with hyperspace travel was Cronau radiation . This was a short , but powerful burst of radiation which was generated when a ship entered and left hyperspace . It could be detected by properly aligned sensors from a few light - seconds away , often well outside normal sensor radius . This was how the Rebel base on Hoth was able to prepare for the oncoming attack when Admiral Ozzel mistakenly took the " Executor " and its battle fleet out of hyperspace too close to the system , rather than approaching stealthily from outside the system . Communications . While hyperspace travel was the primary usage of this phenomenon which bound the modern galaxy together , it was by no means the only one . Hypercomm technology sent signal packets through hyperspace at greater speeds and distances than was possible with more conventional subspace transmitter s , and this was done so with much greater speed than hyperdrive - equipped starships . The HoloNet increased the range still further , using an interconnected network of hyperwave transceivers suspended in hyperspace to rebroadcast enormous tracts of data over the entire galaxy , allowing instantaneous , full - holo transmissions from virtually any subscriber to any other . Under the Galactic Empire , the HoloNet was rigorously controlled , and even under the New Republic , the network was fantastically expensive to maintain , and so direct two - way connection was usually limited to government personnel and the wealthy . News , entertainment , and other wide - reaching broadcasts were transmitted throughout the galaxy and repeated on local sector - based subspace networks , however , so every level of galactic society was touched by this communications tool , not simply those with expensive hypercomm systems . Navigation . Because of the danger of mass shadows ( not to mention interdicting pirates ) , hyperspace courses had to be plotted with great caution . Very few beings other than powerful Jedi could react while traveling at many times the speed of light , and in any case conventional sensors and communicators could not receive information faster than lightspeed . Even subspace sensors , which operated along an alternate dimension and propagate faster than light , could not keep up with the vast speeds of hyperspace travel . Thus , precise advance knowledge of the celestial bodies along the way was necessary in the form of navigational computers . These devices , also known as nav comps or navicomputers by spacers , contained detailed star charts and the ability to make astronavigational calculations quickly from one point to another before a jump was taken . While pilots had to have a basic understanding of astronav skills to operate a nav computer proficiently , they didn ' t need to know the complex physical equations necessary for hyperspeed travel , although some species , such as the Givin and Siniteen , were able to calculate these equations in their heads and thus did not require the help of a computer . The internal library charts had to be periodically updated , of course , as systems move slowly around the galaxy , stars explode and are born , and so on , and so a dedicated explorer and cartographer corps still existed millennia after the first star lanes were plotted . Most star travelers used preexisting , well - known trade routes . This guaranteed that interdiction by pirates and celestial bodies was kept to a minimum , help was close by in the case of a malfunction , and travel times could be reasonably predicted . Hyperspace travel times . While generally determined by the distance between two planets , hyperspace travel times between two locations seemingly close to one another could be drastically extended by the need to navigate around stellar hazards , such as asteroid fields and nebulae . An example of this is the journey from Coruscant to Alderaan . In terms of distance , Alderaan was situated close to Coruscant — the former at approximately 5 , 000 light years from the Core , the latter at approximately 10 , 000 . However , during the Imperial era , such a journey required roughly sixteen hours of travel due to a section of the route passing through a part of the largely - uncharted Deep Core , where navigation was difficult as a result of the gravity wells produced by the congregation of stars . Ironically , then , it was actually faster to get from Tatooine to Alderaan on the other side of the galaxy . In some cases , intragalactic travels could take days , depending on the distance between two planets and the obstacles between .