Verified against the live game, August 2026. Numbers are the current defaults and can shift with balance patches; each galaxy's host also sets its own pace.
Range and speed are different stats
Every jump-capable hull has a jump range (how far it can go in one hop, in light years) and a hyperdrive rating (how fast it covers the distance). Both are on each ship's registry page. A group jump moves at the slowest ship's rating and is limited by the shortest range — convoys pay for their freighters.
Travel takes real time
Jump time scales with distance divided by hyperdrive rating. In practice: a fast corvette makes a 10-light-year hop in about half a game-hour; a colony ship takes roughly twice that; a long crossing is measured in game-days. At the default galaxy pace that means minutes to hours of real time — you order the jump, go do something else, and the arrival report finds you. Ships in transit are committed: no orders until they land.
Beyond your range: plot a course
A destination outside single-jump range isn't unreachable — set it as your destination and the autopilot plots a multi-hop course through intermediate systems, flying each leg automatically. It's how empires move fleets across the whole map while asleep.
You can be seen coming
Early-warning structures and sensor ships flag inbound fleets before they land — the best warning pods see arrivals up to two game-days out, and the alert can reach its owner by email. Deep strikes into well-sensored space are never a surprise to anyone competent.
Two shortcuts, one trap
Jump gates collapse any distance between two gated systems into a single one-minute transit. Interdiction is the trap: an active interdictor jams every departure from its system — arrivals land normally, but nothing leaves until the jammer dies.