Development of the Warp Drive



This simple graphic detailed the idea of warping space
into a sort of ftl carrier wave for spacecraft
that would not violate general relativity or causality.



The foundational mathematics behind the modern faster-than-light drive was completed before wormhole travel was proven feasible.  However, there were at the time insurmountable technical problems involved in creating the space-warping effect that would allow functional superluminal travel.  Namely, the fact that the energy level required to create the warp field exceeded the total energy density of the observable universe.



Thus, even though it was a theoretically established fact, it remained practically impossible for several hundred years after humanity began to expand through the limited network of wormholes.  However, a breakthrough in exotic field physics in 2583 proved that a small amount of exocromium could be used to generate a type of null-particle field around a spacecraft, thereby significantly reducing the amount of energy needed to create the space-warping field to realistically achievable levels.  This discovery was followed quickly by a test flight of the starship Alexei Leonov, the first starship to achieve functional FTL without recourse to wormhole travel.  Of course the rate of travel was significantly slower that the instantaneous arrival allowed through wormholes, but humanity was no longer limited to exploiting star systems connected to the wormhole network.  This created a new rennaisance in space exploration and colonization that resulted in both the Interstellar War Period and the establishment of the Terran Federation in 2625.