Jumpgate

For the MMORPG, see Jumpgate: The Reconstruction Initiative

In sci-fi, Jumpgate (or jump gate) refers to a device that allows fast travel between two points in space. Several works use this term extensively.

Babylon 5

In the Babylon 5 television series, a Jump Gate is an apparatus with the power to open a vortex that connects normal space with hyperspace, making interstellar travel a matter of days. Jumpgates also provide beacons that allow navigation within hyperspace. The creators of this technology are not known.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

In the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television series a network of stargates has been set up for interstellar travel. In this context, stargates are the same concept as jumpgates. These stargates were shown as a diamond-shaped quartet of stars that shimmered when a vessel was making transit.

Fading Suns

In the fictional Fading Suns universe jumpgates are the only means to travel between the stars. They are huge structures left behind by some almost unknown alien civilization called the Ur. The jumpgates are long ring-like structures that have a diameter of several kilometers across, they are opened by a device called jump engine, and the route is controlled by another device called the jump key. The civilization of the known worlds has very little understanding of the principles at work behind the gates.

Freelancer

In the Freelancer by Digital Anvil, the jumpgate is an apparatus which provides travel from system to system. After the Liberty landed on Planet Manhatten and began exploring the New York System they came across the natural phenomenon known as the Jumphole. Ageira Technologies researched it and developed the Jumpgate, and in conjunction with Deep Space Engineering, provided the rest of the Houses with the technology- for a hefty fee.

Jumpgates form choke points through which traffic entering a star system must pass, making them favoured ambush points for criminal groups such as the Outcasts and Corsairs. To guard against this, naval or military checkpoints are commonly situated near Jumpgates, who also take advantage of the opportunity to scan for contraband being smuggled into the system (although smart smugglers and criminals tend to make use of jump holes rather than risk detection and capture.) Jumpgates are also outfitted with defensive turrets in order to cover the immediate vicinity.

Nevertheless, a great many careers have been cut tragically short in Sirius by an unsuspecting convoy or fighter entering a system only to find a whole squadron of pirate vessels waiting for them and their valuable cargoes.