Hyperspace

"For fast travel over interstellar distances, hyperspace is optimal."

- Tseebo

Hyperspace was a dimension of space-time that could only be reached by travelling at lightspeed or faster. By entering hyperspace, a starship could take advantage of the wrinkles in the fabric of realspace to reduce journey time significantly, "jumping" from a specific point to another point without having to travel directly between them. Hyperspace jumps necessitated very precise calculations; without those, a vessel could fly right through a star or another celestial body. Because of the danger, there existed predetermined hyperspace routes which interstellar travellers could take. Sometimes, the discovery of new safe hyperspace routes could play a pivotal role in a war, as it would allow naval forces to move faster unbeknownst to their adversaries. A vessel's ability to travel through hyperspace depended on its being equipped with a hyperdrive engine. Quick jumps into hyperspace could be unsettling to even experienced pilots, but those with the proper stamina and training could overcome this. The Galactic Empire employed Interdictor cruisers to disable hyperspace capabilities in other vessels, both to pull them from hyperspace and to prevent them from making the jump to it.

It was technically possible for a vessel, such as a shuttle, to disembark from another vessel while in hyperspace, but the procedure carried extreme risk. Such a move would tear the disembarking vessel violently out of hyperspace.