X-303

"This is Prometheus, otherwise known as the X-303."

- Samantha Carter

The X-303 was an interstellar spaceship built secretly on Earth using technology procured by Stargate Command.

Like its predecessor, the X-302, the X-303 is exclusively of Tau'ri construction, but incorporates a number of alien technologies, including inertial dampers, artificial gravity and an antigravity system that allows the vessel to hover in midair. Its sublight engines are capable of boosting it from the surface into orbit in less than thirty seconds, and the ship incorporated a larger version of the Naquadriah-based hyperdrive developed for the X-302. The version incorporated into the X-303 included a buffer designed to compensate for Naquadriah's inherent instability.

The most notable difference between the X-303 and its predecessor is in size. Whereas the X-302 was designed as an air and space superiority fighter, the X-303 was designed instead as the U.S. Air Force's first capital ship. Spanning several decks and capable of carrying more than a hundred personnel, the X-303 could in fact contain eight X-302s within its hangar bay.

History
The X-303 was constructed in an underground hangar facility designated Area 37-92/NV, under the project name "Prometheus". Its development was so large an undertaking that maintaining its secrecy proved impossible, with information leaking to reporter Julia Donovan with the Inside Access news program. In an attempt to minimize the potential damage of the project's disclosure, the President of the United States agreed to give Donovan, her producer, and a camera crew a tour of the X-303, claiming the alien technology it incorporated was in fact salvaged from a UFO that crashed near Fairbanks, Alaska in 1978.

During the tour, the ship was taken over by the camera crew, actually rogue NID agents working at the behest of Colonel Frank Simmons. The agents successfully managed to steal the ship and take it into hyperspace before being overpowered by SG-1. However, the hyperdrive, which was configured for Simmons by the Goa'uld inhabiting Adrian Conrad, malfunctioned and transported the ship instead to an unknown destination.

In what came to be the ship's first mission, the Asgard took the X-303 to their home galaxy in the hope that it could be used to trap the Replicators inside a time dilation field. During this mission, the Asgard also modified the ship's shields and engines to their maximum potential, correcting the faults in the vessel's hyperdrive. After the successful completion of this mission, the Asgard provided shields for the ship in advance of its formal shakedown cruise as a gesture of gratitude.

Ultimately, the X-303 entered active service, taking the designator BC-303 and the name Prometheus. In this capacity, it served as the flagship of the Tau'ri fleet under the auspices of the Office of Homeworld Security, and received additional upgrades from the Asgard. Though plans were made to construct an entire fleet of BC-303s, the introduction of the Daedalus-class battlecruisers rendered the craft obsolete, leaving the Prometheus as the sole vessel in its class.

The design plans for the X-303 (without the Asgard upgrades) were provided to the Russian Federation in 2002 along with those for the X-302; however, the Russians have apparently not constructed any such vessels.

Airlocks
Several airlocks line the slender mid-section of the ship. Airlocks may be vented through initiating a Venting Sequence controlled through the computer consoles, or performing a manual override to open the door via a control keypad. Maj. Samantha Carter once invoked the use of the computer-controlled Venting Sequence as a way to move the ship, which was stuck in a gaseous cloud. The venting of Airlock 3 failed, however, to break the ship free.

Armory
There are several armories on the Prometheus. It is unknown how many armories existed, but they appear to be small and packed with various weapons and munitions. They are known to contain both Tau'ri and Goa'uld weapons, as well as vests, flashlights, and radios. It is possible to remotely lock and unlock the armory from other parts of the ship, such as the bridge, through the use of a 5-digit access code. One such armory was room NS7-22 on Deck 6.

Bridge
The Prometheus' command center was laid out in a manner more reminiscent of the bridges of naval vessels than the cockpit of an aircraft. It was a fairly large room, with banks of consoles were arranged along the walls; the commanding officer occupied a chair towards the center, flanked by two additional forward-facing consoles. Generally the station to the commander's left was staffed by the ship's pilot, while a senior technician sat to the right. The weapons officer occupied a station farther forward and off to the side; a cluster of windows covered much of the front wall, with a set of small display screens set above them. A large map and plotting table was located toward the back of the room.

Briefing Room
The briefing room in the Prometheus is designed with small groups in mind. There is a large built-in display monitor which serves as a map to the Prometheus itself. Next to this display is a wall-mounted communications phone. This large display is on the same wall as the entrance and is directly opposite of a large, six-paneled window. A large rectangular conference table, able to seat up to twelve individuals comfortably (two at each end and four on each side), sits in the middle of the room. There is room between the end of the conference table and the windowed wall for additional seating and standing room. Various electronic control panels and ventilation covers decorate the walls of the briefing room.

Brig
The brig on Prometheus was a small, unadorned room not dissimilar to the ship's storage compartments; it contained a surveillance camera through which the prisoners could be observed. Though apparently designed for only a single occupant, it has been used to hold up to four people, indicating there may be only one such room on the ship.

Cargo Bay
The cargo bay was in the forward section of the Prometheus. It was, at least, 22 feet high as it was capable of holding a Stargate. This area was labeled in the Venting Sequence display screen as "Fwd Cargo Hangar".

Hanger Bay
There are two hanger bays on the Prometheus, which are designed for a total complement of eight F-302s (four in each bay). Despite being designed for F-302s, they are also capable of holding Goa'uld Death gliders. Col. Jack O'Neill and Teal'c used a death glider from Anubis' crashed ha'tak to secretly board the Prometheus after it was stolen by a rogue cell of the NID. Their approach was possible because the radar systems for the Prometheus were not yet operational as the ship was still under construction when it was stolen.

Crew Quarters
The crew's quarters are located at the rear of the spacecraft, above the two large sublight engines. The appearance of the interior of these compartments is unknown, but likely vary based on the composition of the crew and the mission.

Elevators
Elevators on the Prometheus are called through the use of a keycard which is swiped through a card reader, just like those in the SGC, except that a secondary swipe isn't necessary once inside the elevator. The card reader on the Prometheus also has a keypad, whereas the card readers at the SGC do not. The elevator has the same number of buttons on its panel as the one at the SGC, which is twenty-eight. Some elevators, if not all, have opposing doors (a "front" and a "rear" set). In case the elevators are not operational, personnel may use access passageways equipped with ladders.

Infirmary
The Prometheus infirmary needs to be prepared for any eventuality, from combat injuries, to common illnesses, to exposure to alien issues. It is likely well stocked for the long voyages from Earth. It has a full complement of medications and monitoring equipment and several beds. It would very likely also include a surgical bay.

Mess Hall
The mess hall of Prometheus is furnished with several small cloth covered tables. Most often, the tables are set up next to each other to make long rows of dining areas at which the crew can eat. The condiments displayed and decor is similar to the SGC commissary. The mess hall, kitchen and pantry were presumably some of the last things installed in the Prometheus. When Thor of the Asgard shanghaied the ship and SG-1 for a vital mission, he beamed aboard supplies with no thought

Any mess line has not been visible in parts of the room showed to date, however, there are coolers with sandwiches and fruit available during irregular chow times. Although there was no refrigeration available when the Prometheus was stolen, there are now coolers and fresh fruit available for the crew during their long interstellar voyages. There is at least one exterior window in the room, with a large display screen opposite it.

Technology
Earth's first intergalactic spaceship was built using both Earth-based and alien technology. Without the engineering of Earth's alien allies, the Prometheus would never have been possible.

Communications
Prometheus had a variety of means to communicate within and between ships. There were traditional telephones located in corridors and rooms throughout the ship for intra-ship communications. There was also the capacity to integrate the system to wireless radio headsets. The ship also has an intercom system for ship wide messages. It could be activated on the bridge by one of the stations and could also be triggered directly from the commander's chair.

The Prometheus was equipped for both audio and video communications outside the ship as well. Despite communications satellites being down, Prometheus was able to establish a secure video transmission directly to the Oval Office, which displayed on monitors above the main window/viewer display. A side viewer also displayed video communications that integrated with alien ships, such as the Asgard and Goa'uld. The ship could also broadcast audio-only messages on multiple frequencies, and included the additional feature of translating the broadcast into Goa'uld. The communications, however, couldn't penetrate Ancient shielding, as was evidenced upon the discovery of the caves of Avalon in the Glastonbury Tor. The Prometheus had two communications arrays symmetrically placed on the rear section of the ship.

Inertial Dampeners and Artificial Gravity
The Prometheus had inertial dampeners and artificial gravity technology, which gave its passengers a smooth ride, much like that taken within a fast elevator. When Julia Donovan's filming crew turned out to be rogue NID agents who stole the ship, Carter was trapped on a level which didn't have the artificial gravity systems in place and she experienced zero gravity when the ship was taken into space.

Shields
The Tau'ri do not possess shields of their own design, instead utilizing shields of Asgard origin, which were donated to them in thanks for the help the Tau'ri had provided the Asgard in their conflict against the Replicators. Asgard shielding was first equipped to the Prometheus and eventually the Daedalus-class, allowing the Tau'ri to better confront the warships of the Goa'uld. However, with the invasion of the Ori, the shields of the Prometheus proved virtually ineffective against the powerful weapons of the Ori.

Anti-Gravity Pod
The Anti-Gravity Pod was housed in the lower portion of the rear of the ship, as labeled on the Venting Sequence display. The Prometheus most likely used this feature in entering and exiting its subterranean bay on Earth, in softening an off-world landing, and in hovering or maintaining a stationary position above the ground as it did in Antarctica in order to protect SG-1's cargo ship during Anubis's attack.

Deceleration Thrusters
Declaration thrusters were used to slow the Prometheus down. They were situated on the front side of the large rectangular hyperdrive engine sections and were seen being used by SG-1 when they landed on the planet Hala.

Hyperdrive
The hyperdrive engines were first powered by the powerful, but highly unstable, mineral called naquadria in the form of a Naquadria reactor core. A buffer was installed to prevent the reactor from going critical due to naquadria's inherent instability. Later, new hyperdrive technology was installed by the Asgard. Between that time, however, the ship operated on a temporary adaptation of a hyperdrive engine from an al'kesh. The rectangular hyperdrive nacelles were seen on either side of the ship's rear section. The hyperdrive engines glowed blue when activated.

Hyperdrive control systems were protected with codes, but these codes could be overridden by someone who was familiar with the crystals used in these control systems. An engine coolant system ran through the length of the slender midsection of the ship and into the rear where the engines were located. Spatial gases could interfere with the even flow of power to the hyperdrive emitters and thus prevent a hyperspace window from becoming fully formed. When the power to the hyperdrive emitter was reduced, it was possible to create a partial shift into hyperspace which could take the ship out of the surrounding space-time temporarily.

If the Prometheus were ever called upon to take a trip to the Pegasus galaxy using its Asgard hyperdrive engines, it would take approximately 18 days, as this is the amount of time that Daedalus-class ships are able to make the trip with their Asgard hyperdrive engines.

Sublight Engines
Sublight engines enabled the Prometheus to accelerate to 110,000 miles per second, which was over half the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). An ignition module had to have been calibrated to within a 1% margin of error in order for the engines to start. If outside this margin, the module would burn out, and the engines would fail to start. Sublight engines placed the Prometheus in Earth's orbit in less than 30 seconds.

The control relay for the sublight engines was located on Deck 8. Sublight engines have varying output, which is controlled through the ship's helm. One such output was referred to as "emergency thrust" and was used when the Prometheus left Antarctica to meet Anubis's fleet in Earth's orbit.

Landing Gear
The Prometheus had a tripodal landing gear system with one leg in the front of the ship and two in the rear. The slender mid-section of the ship had no support. The ship needed to engage the deceleration thrusters in order to obtain a stationary point above the planet surface before landing. Most likely, the anti-gravity pod assisted in the landing process. The landing gear operated just like that on a jet airplane and could be retracted back into the body of the ship.

Armaments
Prometheus-class ships contain an array of powerful conventional weapons.

Railguns
The 303s have 16 railguns, which have become standard on F-302s and all Daedalus-class vessels for ship-to-ship combat. Just a few shots are able to take out a Death Glider relatively quickly and deal a large amount of damage to Al'kesh and Ha'taks.

Missile Batteries
The 303s have 12 missile batteries and naquadah enhanced nuclear warheads. These missiles are able to take out a Death Glider relatively quickly and deal a large amount of damage to Al'kesh and Ha'taks. However, Ori shields are significantly more difficult, practically impossible, to pierce.