Hyperspace Travel
Real and Hyper
Realspace is the name for the normal dimension in which the galaxy exists.
Hyperspace is the name for a dimension that was accessed by travelling faster than the speed of light.
Technology
Each starship that wants to travel through hyperspace needs a hyperspace engine also known as a hyperdrive.
This engine allowed the ship to "jump" to faster than the speed of light by slipping into hyperspace. The ship then travels across the galaxy in this parallel dimension. When the ship arrived at their destination they would exit hyperspace and appear in the realspace equivalent of their hyperspace location.
Large objects such as planets and stars leave "mass shadows" in hyperspace. These shadows will pull a ship from hyperspace and possibly destroy them. Because of this, care must be taken in charting a route across the galaxy and ships are equipped with emergency measures that will trigger an exit into realspace before an impending collision.
Hyperspace lanes
Since the development of this technology and for the several millennia following this, pilots and navigators have been plotting routes that are consistently safe and efficient. These lanes of travel allow ships to quickly travel between planets for commerce and military strategy.
These lanes are updated and transmitted via the HoloNet. They also tend to be patrolled and there may be check points set up along them.
It is possible, and even common for those with less than legal lifestyles, to use a Navigation Computer to calculate your own hyperspace route. This method takes more time as the computer has to take into account possibly billions of galactic entities to route a safe journey. If the calculations are inputted incorrectly or hastily, the route may be inefficient or at worst deadly.
