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According to Joshua Tyler
| Published
If you’re traveling through space, you’ll need a ship. For now, the only ships we can actually make are slow, massive fire-breathing missiles. Science fiction travels much faster through space.
While some stories are better when things move slowly, science fiction is often the funnest when things are moving at warp speed. But which sci-fi starship is the fastest?
It depends on what you ask. For example, a battleship is probably faster than a capital ship in normal space, but a capital ship capable of entering hyperspace is an easy winner. So for the purposes of this list, we measure our ships purely by how fast they can get from point A to point B.
These are the fastest starships in science fiction.
8. Lexx (Lexx)
The LEXX is a biomechanical spaceship capable of traveling faster than light. LEXX moves through space via a biologically powered propulsion system. This organic propulsion allows the ship to travel across galaxies and even between universes at a speed that is never precisely quantified, but is shown to be far superior to most conventional starships in its universe.
While it lacks the complex navigation systems typical of mechanical spaceships, its biological design makes up for it with a natural affinity for moving through space. His ability to cross intergalactic and interdimensional boundaries presupposes a highly advanced and possibly foreign an understanding of the spatial physics encoded into its organic systems.
Despite its unmatched speed, the LEXX often requires guidance from its crew to determine destinations, as it lacks the cognitive capacity to make strategic decisions. The combination of organic propulsion and intuitive navigation makes the LEXX one of the most unusual ships in science fiction, even if it is ugly.
7. Ascendant of Andromeda (Andromeda)
The Ascendant of Andromeda is a Glorious Heritage-class heavy cruiser designed as part of the High Guard fleet in the Systems Commonwealth. With the fall of the Commonwealth, Andromeda is the only one of her kind left.
Andromeda’s propulsion relies on Slipstream Drive, a technology that enables faster-than-light travel through a network of naturally occurring pathways called slipstream routes. Unlike traditional FTL systems, slipstream navigation requires an intuitive pilot to determine courses through these unstable routes. Exact calculations are impossible due to the chaotic nature of slipstream physics.
Andromeda’s AI must work with human pilots to navigate this complex system efficiently and quickly.
6. Planet Express Ship (Futurama)
The Express Ship Planet is a state-of-the-art spacecraft designed by the brilliant and eccentric Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth.
The ship is powered by a dark matter an engine that provides near-infinite fuel consumption and works by moving space around the ship rather than the ship moving through space. This unique propulsion system allows the Planet Express ship to reach effectively infinite speed relative to itself, allowing for instantaneous or near-instantaneous interstellar travel.
The ship’s engine is powered by dark matter, a substance refined from the excrement of the Nibblonian species, making it as strange as it is effective.
5. Event horizon (Event Horizon)
The Event Horizonfrom the 1997 sci-fi horror film of the same name, is an experimental spacecraft designed to test a revolutionary propulsion system known as the Gravity Drive. This drive enables faster-than-light travel by creating an artificial black hole that bends space-time so that two points are instantly connected.
The Gravity Drive core uses exotic matter and advanced energy manipulation to create a singularity, shrinking the distance between locations in space. Because of this, the Event Horizon does not travel in the traditional sense; instead, it “jumps” from one point to another, completely bypassing the space in between. The Gravity Drive is housed in a specialized and very creepy chamber at the back of the ship, surrounded by containment fields and reinforced structures to control the extreme energy and gravitational forces it generates.
This all sounds well and good, except for one horrible side effect. In order for the Event Horizon to get between the two points, it must first go through what is essentially Hell. As you can imagine, this does not go well.
Still, Event Horizon can get you where you’re going really fast. You’ll probably be mad or dead by the time you get there.
4. Discovery (Star Trek: Discovery)
The USS Discovery (NCC-1031) in Star Trek: Discovery is one of two Crossfield-class starships constructed by Starfleet. Both were equipped with an experimental propulsion system called the Spore Drive, but only Discovery put it into operation.
This experimental drive uses the mycelial network, a subspace domain composed of a vast network of spores spanning the entire galaxy. Yes, he basically flies using space sponges.
The biologically enhanced Spore Drive system integrates organic matter similar to a supercomputer interface with a living navigator, notably the tardigrade Ripper-like creature or later Commander Paul Stamets, who uses injected spores to link to the web. By accessing this network of mycelia, Discovery can instantly “jump” to any location in space, bypassing traditional warp speed limitations and enabling unmatched tactical and reconnaissance capabilities.
The Spore Drive mechanics are based on advanced techno-gibberish where the ship essentially moves through microscopic channels in space-time instead of traversing interspace. While normal Star Trek warp drives rely on the manipulation of space-time through the matter-antimatter reaction and dilithium crystals, the Spore drive operates entirely outside of this paradigm, offering instantaneous travel without the effects of time dilation.
3. Guild ship (Dune)
Guild ships in Dune are colossal starships used by the Space Guild for instant interstellar travel, the cornerstone of the Empire’s economy and administration.
These ships use space warping technology made possible by the use of psychoactive spices. This ability gives Guild navigators the prescient ability to map safe paths through curved space. The process, known as Holtzman Drive space folding, collapses vast distances between two points, effectively eliminating travel time.
Guild ships are manned by mutated human navigators who develop superhuman cognitive abilities and physical deformities after prolonged exposure to the spice. These abilities allow them to perceive the complex, moving paths of curved space and avoid fatal collisions with celestial objects.
These huge cylindrical vessels can carry entire fleets or huge amounts of cargo, making them indispensable for trade, warfare and governance.
2. The TARDIS Doctor Who
TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. The Doctor’s ride made its maiden voyage long before the events we see on screen in Doctor Who. The incredibly old vehicle is a Type 40 Time Capsule constructed by the Time Lords on the planet Gallifrey.
The TARDIS is alive and incredibly intelligent. It exists in multiple dimensions at the same time and therefore is bigger inside. This multidimensional nature allows him to bypass the normal limitations of both time and space.
When the Doctor sets the coordinates for a new location in time or space, the TARDIS dematerializes from its current location, passes through a “time vortex” and then rematerializes at its destination. The process is almost instantaneous. A time vortex can be thought of as a highway that instantly connects different points across the space-time continuum, regardless of their distance or time separation in the “normal” universe.
1. Heart of Gold (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
The space is big. You just won’t believe how huge, huge, unbelievably big it is. You might think it’s a long way to the pharmacy, but that’s just peanuts into space.
So if you’re going to travel through space, you’re going to need something fast. There is nothing faster than A heart of gold. It’s unlikely to be number one on our list.
That’s because The Heart of Gold is powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive, an amazing new method of covering vast distances in less than a second without all that tiresome hyperspace slogging.
The drive exploits the natural chaos of the universe by passing through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simultaneously. While your typical sci-fi engines may struggle to bend the laws of physics, Infinite Improbability Drive throws them out the window and drinks tea with the resulting chaos. It’s unlikely, which is the point.
The origins of the Heart of Gold are as extraordinary and chaotic as the ship itself. The ship was designed and built on the planet Damogran, where it was to be launched with much fanfare in a ceremony attended by the President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. Unfortunately, in a completely improbable move, Zaphod stole the Heart of Gold and transported it to the Unknown Regions.
Zaphod stole it because he knows what you know now. If you’re a Hoopy Frood who knows where his towel is, then there’s no faster way to travel through space than aboard the Heart of Gold.
