Hyperlane

A hyperlane, also known as a hyperroute, hyperway or hyperspace route, was an area of space that had been deemed safe for hyperspace travel. Hyperlanes were routes through space in which a spaceship could safely travel without colliding with a body in space, or some other phenomena such as a black hole. There were about eight major routes in the galaxy, with hundreds of secondary routes and thousands of minor ones. Scouting new hyperspace routes is an incredibly dangerous task for an explorer. For trade purposes, some hyperlanes were converted into trade routes.

In many parts of the galaxy hyperlanes also involved periodic re-entry into realspace. This was so as to manually maneouver the ship towards the next hyper-point. It was in these spots that pirate raids were common. The Empire and other governments often sought to lessen this threat by constructing deep-space platforms at hyper-points. Mine fields were also used.