Hyperspace

"Hyperspace is, undoubtedly, the single most important discovery of the American Federation since the power of the Atom""- Baedeus Wellington"

Hyperspace is a central factor in almost every aspect of interstellar life; it acts as a catalyst for transportation, energy production and expansion. All of these practice applications are based around the Theory of Hyperspace, which was initially discovered by a joint research committee between the American Federation and the Imperial Hegemony.

The Theory of Hyperspace
The Theory of Hyperspace states that there are two sets of three unseen spacial dimensions located in parallel to the traditional three, which are now occasionally referred to as realspace. In these dimensions the laws of physics are radically different. Within the first dimension - often called Hyperspace - the force of gravity is many magnitudes higher then within ours, and the speed of light isn't a constraint for velocity. Within the second dimension - often called falsespace - the laws of physics are so twisted that it is impossible for any known matter or energy to exist in it. Instead it is fill with a twisting miasma of toxic violet plasma.

While the overlying theory is relatively simplistic, the implications of these new dimensions and their physical rules are massive, leading to new fields of study and a technological Renaissance.

Hyperdrives and space travel
Hyperdrives are a device used to temporarily submerge a ship in hyperspace, allowing it to exploit the increased gravity to catapult themselves through hyperspace at super-relativistic speeds, allowing near instantaneous travel through realspace. This requires a nearby high mass object to slingshot off of, although this requirement can be circumnavigated through the use of Travaxite charges, which simulate high centers of mass.

This is not without risk, as hyperspace is populated by pockets of Antimatter, which will instantly annihilation any ship that is unfortunate to come into contact with it. This necessitates intensive and up-to-date hyperspace navigation charts which are used to plot safe plots through hyperspace. The calculations required for this are also immense in magnitude, also requiring extremely advanced navigation computers to plot a safe pathway through hyperspace, often called hyperlanes.

Hyperlane Surveying
Hyperlanes are mapped out in a process called Hyperlane Surveying. It is accomplished by a pair of surveying ships, designated as a sender and a receiver, which fly alongside each other in either normal space or subspace. The sender fires particles subsumed in hyperspace towards the receiver ship, which records the particles received to plot the antimatter reserves between the ships. Surveying is extremely boring, time consuming, and difficult to automate, but it pays decently well and remains a vital part of the space-economy.