When it comes to space travel, most science-fiction stories use a method that allows spaceships to travel faster than light in order to get from one point to another very quickly.  In Babylon 5’s case, their ships use Hyperspace.

In a nutshell, Hyperspace is another dimension which the Babylon 5 ships access using either Jumpgates or Jump Engines which allow them to puncture holes into Hyperspace.  That way, they can travel through it and go faster than light to their desired destination.  With that said, we’re going to rank which ships are arguably the fastest in the universe.

Babylon 5 Space Station

The main setting of the series, the Babylon 5 space station has quite the history behind it.  Being the last in the Babylon Project, which was the Earth Alliance’s attempt to build a place for humans and alien races to meet in peace, it utilizes the best of Earth’s futuristic technology.

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Despite existing in a permanent orbit around the planet Epsilon III, its rotational acceleration is about 9.8 meters per second squared according to Midwinter.  To give some perspective, the International Space Station currently orbits Earth at 4.76 miles per second or approximately 7,660 meters per second.  So Babylon 5 might not be as fast as our current space station, but it's much bigger in size thus its speed is still impressive.

Aurora-Class Starfury

Better known to Babylon 5 fans as the SA-23E Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfury, this type of fighter ship is commonly used by the Earth Alliance’s military branch known as Earthforce.  Though it may resemble an X-Wing based on the arrangement of its wings, it was actually inspired by the Gunstar ship from The Last Starfighter movie according to B5Scrolls.

Used during the Earth-Minbari War, which took place prior to the establishment of the Babylon 5 space station, it was known not just for its toughness but incredible maneuverability as it could rotate 180 degrees in just 2 seconds as stated by The Wertzone blog.  In fact, they could even outfly the Minbari’s Nial-class Fighters which are said to be more advanced technologically.

EAS Foxfire

Following the Earth Alliance Civil War, a new type of ship was created called the Warlock-class Destroyer.  Utilizing technology from the Earth Alliance, Minbari, and even a secret Shadow component, they are considerably more advanced than the older Omega-class Destroyers in terms of speed and maneuverability.

For instance, the EAS Foxfire is able to jump in and out of Hyperspace very quickly which previous ships in the Earth Alliance couldn’t achieve due to the potential strain on the engines.  Yet only this and its sister ship the EAS Titans have appeared in the Babylon 5 TV movies A Call to Arms and Voices in the Dark.

Seraphim-Class Dreadnaught

 

In the third Babylon 5 movie titled Thirdspace, the crew of the Babylon 5 space station discover a strange artifact which was built by the ancient Vorlon race to connect with their ‘Gods’ who turn out to be a malevolent alien race that exist in an alternate dimension called Thirdspace.  Loosely referred to as the Thirdspace aliens, they are far older and more advanced technologically than most of the other ancient races including the Vorlons.

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As a result, the Thirdspace capital ships/cruisers (which are also called Avatar 3 Seraphim-class Dreadnoughts) are said to be quite formidable.  According to FANDOM, these ships can go about 8 Gs (G-forces) in normal space and 12 Gs in hyperspace which basically equals 78 and 118 meters per second squared in normal and Hyperspace respectively.

ISA Excalibur

Created by the Interstellar Alliance, or ISA for short, the Excalibur utilizes advanced technology from both the Earth Alliance and the Minbari Federation.  It not only has a great deal of firepower but it’s also incredibly fast.

Judging by its speed demonstrated in the episode “Each Night I Dream of Home,” the Babylon 5 Tech-Manuel was able to calculate its minimum level of acceleration to being approximately 60 kilometers per second squared.  Now according to FANDOM, its gravitational engines can go up to .75c (Speed of Light) which equates to approximately 2.25 million meters per second or 224,844 kilometers per second.

Black Star

Originally known as the Drala Fi, this flagship for the Minbari Federation was used in the Earth-Minbari War.  Being a Sharlin-class War Cruiser, it is equipped with a Class A Jump Engine and Stalasha Gravimetric Engine which has .2c (Speed of Light) capability according to the Babylon 5 Tech-Manual meaning it could go approximately 6 million meters per second.

But what made the Black Star particularly terrifying to the Earth Alliance was that it could utilize “Jump Points” (accessible rifts into Hyperspace) for hit-and-run tactics allowing it to appear anywhere deal direct hits and vanish quickly.  However, this ship got destroyed by a young John Sheridan who assumed command of the EAS Lexington after its captain perished.

Shadow Battle Crab

One of the most fearsome races in the Babylon 5 universe, the Shadows not only have superior technology on their side but also great numbers.  Nowhere is this more encapsulated than in the Shadow Battle Crab ships.

Also called Shadow Vessels/Dreadnoughts or Ghosts, the Battle Crabs serve as motherships for the dozens of fighter ships that emerge from them during battle.  They even have the ability to move between normal and Hyperspace without the need for Jump Points or Jumpgates for that matter.  In terms of speed, they’ve been observed to go at least 7.13 million meters per second squared during the episode “Messages from Earth” according to calculations made on the Babylon 5 Tech-Manual.

Xill-Class Heavy Cruiser

Resembling a typical flying saucer in appearance, Xill-class Heavy Cruisers are a type of ship used by the Vree race who resemble the standard round-headed bug-eyed aliens that get reported in alien abduction stories.  Considerably more advanced than the smaller Xorr-class Saucers (whose lights are yellow instead of blue), they are equipped with a Quantum/Gravitic Reactor as opposed to a Matter/Antimatter one.

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Now in terms of speed, the Xill-class Cruisers are described as being very fast without any specific units given.  But based on how they performed during the Babylon 5 third season episode “Shadow Dancing,” these ships were able to keep up with Shadow Battle Crabs and managed to shoot down a few of them in the ensuing battle.

Lordship

Long ago, an ancient race called the Kirishiac expanded from their home-planet of Kirish and created an empire through enslavement before fighting a brief war with the other ancient races collectively referred to as the First Ones.  After retreating back to their home planet, the Kirishiac remained isolated until the near the end of the Second Shadow War when they showed up to aid the Army of Light in their final battle against the Shadows.

Appearing in ships shaped like the one in the above image, which are called Lordship-class Kirish Destroyers or Lordships for short, they proved to be helpful with their superior technology.  For instance, one Lordship is said to be almost as maneuverable as a White Star according to FANDOM.

White Star 1

While the Shadow Battle Crab is arguably one of the fastest ships in the Babylon 5 universe, there is one other that is just as fast and possibly more.  Meet White Star 1, the prototype for the eventual White Star-class Warship that was developed using Vorlon and Minbari technology which would play a much larger role in the Second Shadow War and Earth Alliance Civil War.

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Despite debuting in the episode “Matters of Honor,” its true strength was shown in “Messages from Earth” where it went about 7.13 million meters per second squared as calculated by the Babylon 5 Tech-Manuel.  However, it managed to outpace a Shadow Battle Crab for a while before being saved by the Narn flagship the G’Tok.

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