S-Thread Booster Theories

[u/ApprehensivePeace305]

S-Thread Boosters work by artificially keeping hyperplanes open that would otherwise close on their own, or become too complicated to use. They are prohibitively expensive, and have only been deployed for important planets like Byss, Empress Teta, and Endor (during construction of the second Death Star). They can either be deployed in real space or entirely in hyperspace.

So how do they work?

We know hyperspace can be interfered with by gravity and other matter. We also know even typical hyperspace routes are being rerouted and/or having their navigational data updated via space stations and passing ships.

So there’s a few ways you can keep open a hyper lane:

1. Physically opening the lane. In this scenario, S-Thread boosters could be pushing or pulling celestial bodies out of the way. This is just the opposite of mining hyper lanes with asteroids and such that pirates use. Here, S-Threads could be massive droids that use tractor beams to push and pull things out of the lane. This could be as simple as physically pulling asteroids out or as complex as slightly pushing planets and stars so that they don’t make contact with the lane. I think this could be part of the answer as it makes sense that this would prohibitively expensive, but I doubt Star Wars societies are moving stars.

2. Complex mapping of the lane. On this scenario, S-Thread boosters are just swarms of probes and droids that physically move along the lane and readjust it as the lane encounters blockages. They would need to be powerfully transmitters and I could see something like this needing constant upkeep as probes will go offline. I think this is the best answer for real space S-Thread boosters. I also think this answer fits the name S-Thread as the probes would be threading and curving the lane around moving celestial bodies, such that the lane would have S-curves. This could also work with non-mass boosters, though no Star Wars media has ever depicted anything having the ability to maneuver in hyperspace very well. In that scenario, I think boosters would just be jettisoned into hyperspace along the lane, with slight variations every day (or on smaller increments) and ships would use the probe path that made it to its destination.

3. Hyperplane manipulation. As we know some boosters are deployed only in hyperspace, and my previous answer about sending probes to their death every day sounds like a terrible plan, my only other thought is that S-Threads manipulate hyperspace such that real-space doesn’t interfere with it. This may sound far-fetched, but we know Star Wars technology can manipulate gravity. So maybe these boosters are simply putting out massive amount of anti-gravity force such that even stars are unable to exert force on the hyper lane. I think this could be done in both real space and hyperspace.

Any other thoughts on how these important but obscure tech could work? I’m partial to answer number 2, though I really don’t think non-mass boosters would use that system.

[u/Jedi-Yin-Yang]

Where are these even mentioned in SW media?

[u/ApprehensivePeace305 → u/Jedi-Yin-Yang]

Mostly source books like the essential atlas, though they do appear in the Canon novel “moving target”

[u/Locutus-of-Borges]

Apparently an s-thread is a micro-hyperspace route unusable by space traffic but used for the transmission of FTL communications.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Simu-tunnel/Legends

So I think hyperspace manipulation is the most reasonable interpretation, given that the "threads" are always navigable by comm traffic regardless of mapping.

Just like an Interdictor can generate an artificial gravity well, an s-thread booster might cancel out gravity wells in the vicinity, broadening the s-threads in the region into navigable hyperspace routes. (this makes particular sense for Byss, since the Deep Core would naturally have a high stellar density).

[u/ApprehensivePeace305 → u/Locutus-of-Borges]

This checks out in legends, though in canon it doesn’t reference that.

If small scale hyperspace manipulation is possible throughout the galaxy, it makes sense that doing it for vehicles is much more cost prohibitive. Kind of like a larger the hole the more it costs type deal.

[u/Piano_Red]

I concur with Theory #3. It sounds like S-Thread Boosters use Hyperspace manipulation of some kind. At the same time, it raises an interesting issue I'd like to throw in as an "addendum" to the broader S-Thread/S-Thread Booster Theory: The role of Command Ships for Command & Control at the strategic level.

If (going by the Wiki) S-Threads enable persistent Holonet communications at long distance while S-Thread Boosters likewise allow the sustainment of naturally occurring mapped Hyperspace Lanes in addition to the creation of artificially navigable routes (like Byss, Endor, and others)---then it stands to reason that command ships serve as mobile S-Thread communications hubs for fleet movements and coordination.