Spacecraft throughout the Ealdremen System have dictated the pulse of the system itself, carrying everything from information to armies throughout its planetary regions or serving as new habitations or defense mechanisms in orbit around planets. A spacecraft can be unmanned or crewed by trained specialists and is typically designed for a specific function with little room for use in other fields.
Since the Millennial Calm ended with the calamitous Watershed, spacecraft have been difficult to reverse engineer and are notably worse than Millennial Calm-era spacecraft that were not damaged (or were subsequently restored) to begin with and maintain use in the modern day. However, maintenance of these spacecraft is notoriously difficult, often requiring techniques or materials that are scarce. Because of this, it is rare for spacecraft to be intentionally destroyed even in times of war; virtually anyone who had a chance to would choose to capture and repurpose a spacecraft instead of destroy it, especially with more complex spacecraft such as spaceships.
Types of spacecraft
In Ealdremen, it is generally agreed upon that there are six distinct classes of spacecraft, and a given spacecraft may fall into multiple categories. Although the public-facing nature of spaceships means that most individuals use the term spacecraft and spaceship interchangeably, spaceships are only one class of spacecraft and are not even the most numerous due to the costs involved in creating and maintaining them.
- Artificial satellite: In contrast to natural satellites such as planetary moons, an artificial satellite is designed to orbit around another object in space. The source of the orbit is most commonly a planet or moon. Space stations are a common example of satellites.
- Space vehicle: A space vehicle is designed for surface exploration on a planet or other celestial body. They are most commonly relatively small objects with wheels, but they may also have other means of traversal for air or water. While it is most common for space vehicles to be unmanned and either remotely controlled or guided through preprogrammed commands, space vehicles are also in regular use for surface exploration of celestial bodies that are not inhabited, but are relatively safe for a live crew to traverse.
- Spaceship: A spaceship is the sole means by which objects or individuals can go between distant planets. Due to the scale of the ships and how expensive they are to maintain, spaceships are generally owned by large groups such as corporations, militaries, and governments, though it is possible for an individual to own a ship. Spaceships most often travel through the Ravel using stitch drives to reach otherwise impossible distances within a person's lifetime.
- Space shuttle: A space shuttle is a spacecraft designed for travel through space, but generally in specific localized areas generally within a single planet's orbit. It is most common for such shuttles to go between inhabited satellites and their planet. As with spaceships, space shuttles require fuel and maintenance, but not needing to travel through the Ravel means that they are much less expensive than their wayfaring counterparts.
- Launch vehicle: A launch vehicle is designed to assist with other objects achieving flight in-atmosphere and successful exit of the originating atmosphere. Rockets are the most well-known component of launch vehicles. Launch vehicles do not typically exit atmosphere themselves, and advancements in launch vehicle development have typically been the catalyst for advancements elsewhere in spacecraft.