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![]() Also know as 'realspace drive', the sublight drive is the basic propulsion system found aboard every starship. It is used either to propel a spacecraft within a star system, or to bring it far enough from any planet so it can successfully and safely jump to hyperspace. During the landing cycle, a starship's sublight drive is supplemented by a repulsorlift drive, allowing the ship to maneuver with heightened precision within the planet's atmosphere. Unlike hyperdrives, sublight drives cannot bring a spacecraft to exceed the speed of light (hence their name). Thus, starships equipped only with a sublight drive - like the Imperial TIE Fighter - are not designed to operate at great distances from their home base. Such craft must be carried to deep space destinations by a capital ship, like an Imperial Star Destroyer. The most common type of sublight drive is the Hoersch-Kessel (H-K) ion drive, which propels a ship by having its reactors generate a stream of charged particles. The A-wing and TIE Interceptor sport some of the most powerful sublight drives ever manufactured. Their high-velocity capabilities are spectacularly apparent during the attack on the second Death Star. |