Warp highways are connections between points in space that allow warp capable ships to move faster. Traveling along warp highways requires the use entry and exit points, akin to navigational shortcuts.
History and specifics[]
The origins of these warp highways within the Milky Way Galaxy are uncertain. They are theorized to occur naturally, but it is also possible were intentionally created.
The use of warp highways became possible with the invention of the highway fluctuations scanner technology after the 2340s which are able to determine regions of high subspace fluctuations within the highways. Without these scanners passage of warp highways is not considered safe.
Because warp highways can only be left at specific points – so called highway nodes – it is not considered a violation of territory to use them even if they cross regions of space claimed by another faction. (ST video game: Infinite)
- Although warp highways and highway nodes were not referenced until the premiere of Star Trek: Infinite, it seems likely that such phenomena could explain long reach travel seen in earlier productions and publications, such as the methodology imparted to Sybok by The One to allow the Enterprise-A to reach the Great Barrier in TOS novelization: The Final Frontier.
 |