The Fastest Fictional Starships

If you were to ask any science fiction fan, they could easily name their favorite spaceship from films or TV shows. Whether it's the iconic USS Enterprise or the formidable Imperial Star Destroyer, these ships are on a similar level of creative excellence.

Yet, when you factor in raw speed, certain fictional ships stand out as being noticeably faster than the rest.

The Milano

The Milano made its debut in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, quickly becoming a symbol of the team. Over time, Marvel has expanded its presence across other platforms, including TV shows and comic books.

The Milano is named after Peter Quill's childhood crush, Alyssa Milano, and is a Ravager M-Ship. Initially designed for reconnaissance and hunting, Quill made numerous modifications to the ship, turning it into an essential tool for his reputation as a notorious intergalactic thief.

While the exact speed of the Milano remains unclear, it's known that the ship can make multiple jumps through space and time. As shown in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Milano can travel from one planet to another in mere seconds. According to an estimate from Inverse, these jumps correspond to covering 183 light-years per second.

Source: Screenshot via Marvel Studios

The Raza

Dark Matter was a Canadian sci-fi series that ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2017. The storyline was straightforward: six individuals awaken from stasis pods aboard The Raza, with no recollection of their identities or how they ended up there. They simply take on the names One through Six as they work to unravel the mystery of their situation.

Throughout the series, each character uncovers knowledge about different parts of the ship, such as piloting, electrical systems, and the weapons storage. Eventually, they realize (or perhaps remember?) the existence of the ship’s ‘blink drive’, a complex technology that enables The Raza to travel anywhere in the galaxy in an instant. However, the blink drive is volatile and perilous, leading to many unpredictable adventures.

Source: Screenshot via Prodigy Pictures

SDF-1 Macross

We’re stepping off the beaten path with this one, but the SDF-1 Macross from the Japanese anime series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross absolutely deserves a place on our list.

The SDF-1 isn’t just a regular spacecraft—it can shift into several different forms. Initially a warship from an alien race that crash-landed on Earth, the SDF-1 is armed with enough firepower to obliterate a small planet. It also boasts advanced technology that enables it to fold space, allowing the ship to travel faster than light.

Like many other ships on this list, the exact speed of the SDF-1 is not explicitly stated. However, its ability to fold time and space for rapid travel across the universe certainly earns it a spot on this list.

Source: Screenshot via Studio Nue/Tatsunoko

The Borg Cube

At first glance, the Borg Cube may not seem like a speedster. It doesn’t boast sleek, aerodynamic features or visible rocket thrusters. These ships tend to move at a slow and deliberate pace, which is understandable considering that a single edge of a Borg Cube can measure over two miles in length.

Like many vessels in the Star Trek universe, the Borg Cube is equipped with a warp drive. But there’s more to this ship than meets the eye.

With its transwarp drive, the Borg Cube can reach extraordinary speeds. Some estimates suggest that a ship utilizing transwarp could be 50 times faster than the standard 9.9 warp speed. Additionally, the Cube is reinforced with a special shielding system to withstand the intense forces of transwarp travel, or else it might disintegrate under the pressure.

Source: Screenshot via CBS Television

Trimaxion Drone Ship

Flight of the Navigator is a classic Disney film from decades ago, revolving around a 12-year-old boy who gets abducted by a Trimaxion Drone Ship, known as Max. This ship isn’t just any vessel—it has its own personality, speaks over 1,000 languages, can travel underwater, and certainly knows how to make long journeys feel incredibly short.

In the movie, it’s established that Max covers a distance of 560 light-years in a mere 4.4 hours. This means the ship is faster than light, already making it one of the fastest fictional ships ever imagined. But that’s not all—Max also has the ability to travel through time, adjusting for time dilation by moving backward and forward through the continuum.

Source: Screenshot via Disney

Tomb Ships

While most of the ships on this list hail from movies and TV shows, we’re broadening our scope a bit. There are undoubtedly many incredibly fast ships in the gaming world, but we’ve decided to shine a spotlight on the Tomb Ships from Warhammer 40K. These ships serve as the primary vessels for the Necrons in the popular board game and video game franchise.

The Tomb Ships are formidable, equipped with heavy armor and powerful weaponry, making them perfect for battle. They also feature a mysterious hyperspeed drive, enabling them to reach interstellar velocities without needing to enter the Warp—an alternate dimension full of magic and chaos. Thanks to this Necron technology, the Tomb Ships can travel at remarkable speeds without sacrificing their maneuverability or precision, allowing them to maintain full control even at hyperspeed.

Source: Picture via Games Workshop

Liberator

Though Blake’s 7 may not be widely known in North America, it was a popular British sci-fi show that ran for 52 episodes over four seasons from 1978 to 1981. Set 700 years in the future, it follows a group of rebels battling the oppressive Terran Federation. At the series’ start, the rebels are led by Roj Blake, who commands the Liberator.

The Liberator was designed by The System, a computer network belonging to a highly advanced alien civilization. The ship boasts self-regenerating energy systems and cutting-edge weapons and defensive protocols. But, since this discussion is focused on speed, let’s highlight that aspect.

The Liberator is equipped with a photonic stardrive, allowing it to achieve speeds of 'Standard by Twelve.' While the exact mechanics behind this drive are never fully explained, there are hints that it may rely on 'negative hyperspace' or perhaps an 'antimatter interface' to reach its remarkable velocities.

Source: Screenshot via BBC

The Heighliner

Adapted from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune was a groundbreaking sci-fi film released in 1984. Written and directed by David Lynch, the story focuses on the intense power struggle between noble families fighting for control of Arrakis, a barren desert planet that is the only source of the precious Spice.

The Spice extraction is largely overseen by the Spacing Guild, an organization with exclusive control over interstellar travel and banking. The Guild utilizes the Spice’s mystical properties to ‘fold space’ using their fleet of Heighliner spaceships. These enormous vessels can carry thousands of passengers. While they may not be the fastest in conventional travel, their ability to manipulate space-time allows them to instantly travel to any location, even across vast distances of millions of light-years.

Source: Picture via Herbert Properties

Serenity

The Serenity is a Series 3 Firefly-class transport vessel helmed by Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the Firefly series. While all Firefly ships share a design featuring a prominent rear engine module and wing-mounted engines for vertical takeoff and landing, the Series 3 model stands out with a Trace Compression Block engine. This engine enables the Serenity to accelerate at a rate that is 4.2 times greater than the force of Earth's gravity.

Source: Picture via 20th Television

Swordfish II

Spike Spiegel’s well-worn Swordfish II from Cowboy Bebop was initially crafted for high-speed racing. Eventually, it was adapted into a space-capable fighter, perfectly suited for tracking down wanted criminals and cunning con artists. The ship’s numerous modifications, coupled with a Rolls-Royce AF-15C axial fusion aero-spike turbine engine, make it faster than most aircraft and spacecraft.

Source: Screenshot via Funimation

The Ark

The Ark is the spacecraft that first brought the Autobots to Earth in the Transformers universe. This enormous ship is a Vanguard-class deep space interceptor, consisting of five decks capable of supporting a crew of 300 Transformers, all within a self-sustaining, fully automated environment.

Although Transformers doesn’t explicitly mention travel speeds, it’s clear the Autobots have undertaken interstellar journeys with humans on board, without the need for cryosleep. The Ark’s four hyperfuel intake accelerators are believed to enable it to achieve speeds of around 115 times the speed of light.

Source: Screenshot via Activision/High Moon Studios

USS Sulaco

In Aliens, the USS Sulaco is a Conestoga-class assault starship, tasked with transporting military personnel to investigate the loss of communication with a colony on LV-426. The ship is powered by a Westingland A-59 Fusion Reactor, which is fueled by Lithium-Hydride. Attached to the reactor is a set of four Gates-Heidmann Rocket engines, which use plasma from the fusion reactor to propel the ship by expelling gas created from the interaction between the plasma and the reaction mass.

For faster-than-light travel, the Sulaco is equipped with a Romberg-Rockwell Cygnus 5 Hyperdrive Tachyon Shunt. This system allows the ship to shift into a tachyon state, where it is composed entirely of tachyons. In this state, the ship can reach speeds of around 270 times the speed of light.

Source: Screenshot via 20th Century Studios

8. USS Prometheus

The USS Prometheus, a cutting-edge prototype designed for high-risk deep-space tactical missions, holds the distinction of being the fastest ship ever to serve in Starfleet. Like other ships in the Federation, the Prometheus achieves its faster-than-light capabilities through the use of a warp drive.

In the Star Trek universe, faster-than-light travel is measured in 'warp factor' units, which are tied to the strength of the warp field produced by the ship's drive. While warp factor one represents light speed, higher warp factors correspond to much faster speeds, far exceeding multiples of the speed of light. The specific velocities tied to these factors are derived from a formula that's notoriously vague, and no warp drive has yet been created capable of achieving warp 10, which is theoretically the limit.

The USS Prometheus, however, comes exceptionally close to this limit. The ship is capable of reaching warp 9.9, allowing it to travel at speeds over 2,000 times faster than the speed of light.

Source: Screenshot via CBS Television

Spaceball I

Forget about those so-called 'realistic' ships with all their technical jargon. The Spaceball I, from the iconic parody movie Spaceballs, outpaces them all. How do we know? It’s simple: it has Ludicrous Speed!

For those who need a refresher, Ludicrous Speed is one level beyond Ridiculous Speed. But, of course, it’s not nearly as fast as Plaid Speed.

Battlestar Galactica

In the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, the ship's propulsion is fueled by a special blend of tylium ore. The Galactica has both sublight engines, enabling travel between nearby planets in short periods, and an FTL drive, which bends space, allowing it to cover vast interstellar distances in the blink of an eye.

While the exact distance the Galactica can jump has never been clearly defined on-screen, a deleted line from the miniseries might provide the clue for calculation. The line mentions that the jump from Ragnar to the Prolmar Sector spans 30 light-years. If we convert this estimate into light-speed terms, the Galactica’s velocity would be approximately 1,680,000 times faster than light.

Source: Screenshot via NBCUniversal Television

Millennium Falcon

More than just its unusual shape and battered exterior, the Millennium Falcon is famous for its astonishing speed. The ship’s hyperdrive system is nearly twice the size of one found in a standard YT-1300 freighter, placing it in the 0.5 hyperdrive class and making it twice as fast as most Imperial starships. The Falcon’s speed is further enhanced by its navicomputer, which calculates the fastest and safest path from point A to point B. Additionally, special modifications to the ship help it manage the warp in spacetime during hyperspace travel.

Despite all the advanced technology, the only concrete evidence of the Falcon’s impressive speed in Star Wars lore is the claim that it completed the Kessel Run in just 12 parsecs. What that really means is still open to interpretation. However, experts at Looper speculate that it suggests the Falcon can travel 2,714 light-years in one hour.

Source: Picture via Disney/Lucasfilm

The Heart of Gold

The Heart of Gold spacecraft, a creation straight out of Douglas Adams' beloved novel A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is nothing short of extraordinary. Its backstory reveals that the ship was constructed in secrecy with the aid of an engineer described as “a superintelligent shade of the colour blue.” Remarkably, the ship was stolen right after its official unveiling, and it comes equipped with Marvin, the downcast and paranoid android assistant.

The true marvel of the ship’s unparalleled speed is its Infinite Improbability Drive, a small, golden box located at the heart of the vessel. When activated, this technology allows the ship to pass through every single point in the universe, enabling the pilot to stop anywhere they choose. It's a revolutionary way to navigate the cosmos without relying on warp drives or hyperspace travel.

Thanks to its one-of-a-kind technology, the Heart of Gold stands as one of the fastest fictional spacecraft ever created.

Source: Screenshot via Buena Vista Pictures

Daedalus

The Daedalus-class battlecruiser, also known as a Deep Space Carrier or 304, from the series Stargate SG-1 was constructed using a mix of cutting-edge alien technology. Two of the ship’s most advanced systems, the reactor and hyperdrive, were designed by the Asgard species. Thanks to this extraordinary tech, the Daedalus is capable of traveling between galaxies within a matter of weeks.

Source: Screenshot via MGM Television

TARDIS

Pinpointing the exact speed of the TARDIS is a real puzzle, as it moves through both space and time at wildly fluctuating rates. Because of this, the amount of time spent inside the TARDIS doesn’t always correlate with the time travelers actually experience.

In the 'Utopia' episode, for example, the TARDIS travels all the way to the end of time, yet the entire journey seems to take just a few minutes. In contrast, other episodes suggest journeys that span several hours, as companions mention being able to get a full night’s sleep before reaching their destination.

Still, The Doctor can control the TARDIS's speed to some extent, and its top speed is estimated to be around 10,000,000,000,000,000 times the speed of light.

Source: Screenshot via BBC Studios