Spaceships

Spaceship design is variable across the Planetary Alliance, however the earlier entrance of some planets into the spaceflight arena relative to other local planets or systems means their designs are dominant. These planets are Olav, Neuros, Mildar, Arcta, Dagda, and Yiptae, respectively. Other planets may have small spheres of influence as well. Faster than Light designs are always based on either the Olav-Neuros method (Singularity Rail Guns) or the Mildar (small warp bubbles) method.

## Spaceship Classes

Spaceships are categorized by their purpose, size, maximum speed, and operational fields. Some combinations of classes are exceedingly rare, such as Personal-size spacecraft that can exceed Volk 1 and fly in the Space-to-Atmosphere operational field.

### Ship Size Classes

In the P.A., ships are generalized classified by size as follows. Though not all ships have noses or tails, the general definition is the "nose" is the leading point of ship when traveling, while the "tail" is the farthest point from the nose.

* Personal: Less than 50 feet from nose to tail.
* Small: 50 to 200 feet from nose to tail.
* Medium: 200 to 1000 feet from nose to tail.
* Large: 1000 to 3000 feet from nose to tail.
* Very Large: More than 3000 feet from nose to tail.'

### Operational Field Classes

There are three operational field classes for ships:

* Atmosphere: Can only operate in the atmosphere where air drag is significant
* Space: Can only operate in space, where gravity is insignificant and there is little or no air drag.
* Space-to-Atmosphere: Can operate either in space or in atmosphere and transition seamlessly between the two.

Note that a Space-to-Atmosphere designation is for an "average" atmosphere. Planets with especially heavy air, high pressure, or intense gravity may present challenges even for Space-to-Atmosphere ships.

There are subclasses of Space operational class ships, as follows:

* Planetary Orbit Transfer (POT) - these ships can only transfer between orbits around a planet, which may include transferring to a moon's orbit.
* System Transfer - these ships are capable of flying between planets, outside of any orbit except possibly the central star's orbit.
* Deep Space - these ships can fly almost anywhere in space, within and between systems. The range of these ships will depend on the Speed Class.

Space-to-Atmosphere ships may also be designated by a Space operations field subclass, e.g. ships that can only fly to the ground and stay in orbit around a planet, or ships that can land and fly between systems.

### Speed Classes

Spaceships are measured by their max speed as a percentage of the speed of light. Dr. Volk of Mildar is widely considered the first to invent faster-than-light (FTL) travel engines that can be installed on a ship. Therefore it is standard in the P.A. to use "Volk" as the standard designation of max speed. In other words, Volk 1 is the Speed of Light, where Volk .1 is 10% of the speed of light and Volk 100 is 100 times the speed of light.

There are two methods to FTL travel in the P.A. The Olav-Neuros version is dependent on the use of Singularity Rail Guns (SRGs), while the Mildar-Arcta-Dagda (MAD) variant involves warp bubbles generated by the ships themselves. SRGs allow travel up to Volk 1000 for any ships equipped to pass through them.

The advantage of SRGs is that ships equipped to use them can be much smaller in size and fly FTL. Not all systems in the P.A. have an SRG, even those with civilization-building societies.

## Military Spacecraft

Military spacecraft vary greatly from planet to planet. Some planets are dependent on buying their military tech from other planets, while many planets insist on building their own. The most common planets that sell military spaceships are Olav, Neuros, Mildar, Arcta, Dagda, and Yiptae.

### Military Spacecraft Types

* Reconnaissance: Personal to Small Ships that can typically operate in any operational field. Typical range is intrasystem only. Usually deployed from a planet or larger ship.
* Fighter: Personal to Small ships with dogfighting weaponry. Typically outfitted for either space or atmosphere. Maneuverability is key and Max Speed is generally Volk .1 at most. Usually deployed from a planet or larger ship.
* Bomber: Small ships with minimum maneuverability, equipped with bombs or missiles. Usually deployed from a planet or larger ship. Space-to-atmosphere range is common.
* Cruiser: Medium ships that are typically space only operational field, but in rare cases are equipped to fly in atmosphere. Usually equipped with heavy weaponry and can sometimes travel up to Volk 100. May carry a few smaller ships.
* Dropship: Medium to Large ships with long range. May travel up to Volk 100. Weaponry is relatively light for a ship of its size, as it depends on the fighters it carries for protection Carries a large number of smaller ships. Typically outfitted for either Space or Atmosphere operations.
* Destroyers: Medium to Large ships with long range. May travel up to Volk 100, and only outfitted for Space operations. Equipped with powerful weaponry.
* Carriers: Medium to Large ships with long range. May travel up to Volk 100, and only outfitted for Space operations. Weaponry and other ships on board are minimal, as the primary purpose is to carry people and supporting equipment.
* Frigate: Large ships with the ability to travel up to Volk 100. Space operations only. Highly configurable based on need.
* Flagships: Very large ships with the most powerful weaponry in the fleet. Typically used as a mobile base of operations for space missions.