Hyperdrive

Hyperdrives are devices which can propel spaceships to hyperspace, by opening a subspace window and travelling within a hyperspace field. Hyperdrives vary from culture to culture.

Ancient
The Ancients possessed two types of hyperdrives: interstellar and intergalactic. The latter was capable of allowing Ancient vessels to make trips between galaxies, but they appear to have been confined to certain vessels, such as city-ships. Even without a Zero Point Module, they can cross the millions of light years between galaxies in the amount of time it would take most hyperdrives to travel interstellar distances, which has only been surpassed by the Asgard. The rest, such as Aurora-class warships and other vessels of the Ancient fleet possessed the weaker interstellar hyperdrives. Interstellar hyperdrives were able to traverse across a galaxy at a slower pace than intergalactic hyperdrives, but were still very fast, and also far superior to anything Wraith and Goa'uld vessels are capable of. The interstellar hyperdrives equipped on the Aurora-class warship could be modified to make an intergalactic trip if necessary, possibly meaning the interstellar hyperdrives of other Ancient vessels could be modified as well; they were usually ill-equipped to make such a trip however. Some success has been had with installing an interstellar hyperdrive on puddle jumpers, even though their range is small when compared to other vessels equipped with Ancient hyperdrives, and their effectiveness is limited: draining the jumper's internal battery after one jump unless another power source is interfaced.

Asgard
Asgard hyperdrives are among the fastest ever encountered, being able to traverse galaxies within minutes. While in hyperspace their weapons systems and defensive shields are offline because the full power of the vessel's generators is required, and so they can be destroyed if a nearby vessel in hyperspace self-destructs; however this is highly unlikely, as almost no other hyperdrive can keep pace with them. Asgard ships also have the ability to tow other vessels in their hyperspace field, however this would cause the total travel time of the journey to be lengthened exponentially. The Asgard later granted the Tau'ri their hyperdrive technology, in thanks for their contributions in the battle against the Replicators.

Goa'uld
Goa'uld hyperdrives on the standard Ha'tak are capable of reaching speeds of up to 32,000 times the speed of light. However, because of the far-flung nature of the Goa'uld Empire, Goa'uld homeworlds had to be within less than a years reach of a planet designated for conquest. Goa'uld hyperdrives cannot achieve hyperspace without the proper control crystals.

Ori
Ori hyperdrives appear to be intergalactic, however the distance between the Ori home galaxy and the Milky Way was so great that they required a Supergate to reach the Milky Way. The hyperdrives appear to be fast enough to cross a galaxy in short periods, proving capable of nearly keeping pace with the newly upgraded Odyssey.

Tau'ri
Tau'ri spacecraft initially used naquadria to power their hyperdrives in the form of a buffered Naquadria reactor core, but they proved unstable, requiring controlled amounts of energy, which seriously limited their effectiveness. SG-1 later acquired an Al'kesh hyperdrive from Baal, which was incorporated. This greatly increased the hyperdrive's effectiveness, but forced vessels to make short stops to prevent overload. The Asgard later granted the Tau'ri their hyperdrive technology, in thanks for SG-1's assistance in battling the Replicators. This allowed Tau'ri vessels to make intergalactic trips, but because of power requirements, a trip between the Milky Way and Pegasus takes up to three weeks, which is still far beyond what almost every other encountered space-faring race is capable of. If a ZPM is powering the vessel the trip can be shortened to only four days.

Wraith
Wraith hyperdrives are believed to have been stolen from the Ancients, as Ancient hyperdrives are known to be compatible with those of the Wraith. Wraith hyperdrives are not as effective as that of other known races since it takes them several weeks to cross distances in even a small galaxy like the Pegasus galaxy. Also, due to the techno-organic nature of Wraith vessels, they must routinely exit hyperspace to prevent a built-up of radiation damage acquired via hyperspace travel, which severely limits their effectiveness. The Ancient scientist Janus developed a weapon capable of destroying Wraith ships upon entering hyperspace, called the Attero Device. It created subspace turbulence in the layer of subspace utilized by Wraith hyperdrives, ripping ships apart upon entering a hyperspace window. (ATL: "First Contact")