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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kerbalspace.png]]]]
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->''"The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. Recently, we've waded out a little way, and the water seems inviting."''
-->-- '''Creator/CarlSagan'''

Tropes relating to outer space, spaceships, space travel, and space colonies. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] tropes [-[[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE!]]-]

Before deciding to put a trope in this index, please check the sub-indexes and see if any of them are applicable.
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!! Tropes:
[[index]]
[floatboxright:
'''Media index:'''
+ SpaceStories

'''Trope indexes:'''
+ AlienTropes
+ ArtisticLicenseSpace
+ FasterThanLightIndex
+ {{Heliotropes}}
+ IndexOnTheMoon
+ PlanetaryTropes
+ {{Spacecraft}}
+ SpaceGeologyTropes
+ StellarIndex
+ ThisIndexEarth
]
* AccidentalAstronaut: A character either accidentally launches the spacecraft they are in or they became an unwilling "astronaut" by stowing away on the spacecraft.
* AncientAstronauts: Aliens who developed space travel long before humans influenced ancient history by doing things like being mistaken for gods, building pyramids, etc.
* ApesInSpace: Monkeys and apes as astronauts rather than humans.
* ArbitraryWeaponRange: Weapons in space have a minimum or maximum range.
* ArtificialGravity: Spaceships and space stations with artificial gravity systems.
* ArtisticLicenseSpace: Astronomy does something that, in the real world, it shouldn't do.
* AsteroidMiners: People who mine from asteroids.
* AsteroidThicket: An area in space with a lot of dangerous asteroids.
* AstralFinale: The last episode takes place in space.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Characters who can breathe in space.
* BlindJump: Usually, people have to calculate something before going into faster-than-light mode, but there's no time to do that, so they'll have to do it without calculating.
* BoardingParty: Boarding a ship.
* BornUnderTheSail: A whole culture of sailors/skyship drivers/spaceship drivers.
* TheBridge: The bridge of a starship.
* BridgeBunnies: Young women who control the spaceship from the bridge.
* BurialInSpace: Someone dies in space and has a funeral ritual.
* ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts: Everyone on Earth has something bad happen to them (they die, get infected etc) but there are astronauts who aren't affected and either survive in a post-apocalyptic world or save the other people.
* CameFromTheSky: Something huge falls out of the sky and lands on Earth.
* CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth: A parody of sci-fi heroes.
* CasualInterplanetaryTravel: Interplanetary travel is no big deal.
* CasualInterstellarTravel: Interstellar travel is no big deal.
* CentrifugalGravity: Scientifically accurate artificial gravity through rotation.
* ColonizedSolarSystem: The solar system is settled by humanity.
* ColonyDrop: The world is in danger because of something huge falling from the sky.
* ColonyShip: A spaceship with a whole colony on it.
* ContinuousDecompression: Explosive decompression is way more powerful than scientifically possible and lasts for way longer.
* CoolStarship: A cool, unusual spaceship.
* CorralledCosmos: People only hang out in a certain area of space.
* CosmicMotifs: Space used as a motif.
* CultColony: A religious cult living in a colony in space.
* CyborgHelmsman: Cybernetically-augmented spaceship pilots.
* DangerInTheGalacticCore: The center of the galaxy.
* DangerousOrbitalDebris: Orbiting remains of dead satellites or destroyed spaceships.
* DeflectorShields: A force field.
* DramaticAlienVTOL: Alien spaceships land slowly. ''Really'' slowly.
* DramaticSpaceDrifting: A body or pieces of a body floating in space after a space battle.
* DropPod: A single-use military vehicle dropped from the sky.
* DropShip: A ship designed to carry people and/or supplies to and from a planet or moon.
* DysonSphere: A thing in space big enough for a whole solar system.
* EscapePod: Like a lifeboat but for a spaceship.
* TheExactCenterOfEverything: In the very center of the galaxy or the universe(s), there is something ''really'' important waiting.
* ExplosionsInSpace: Something explodes in space in an unrealistic way.
* ExplosiveDecompression: People explode in space.
* ExposedStarshipBridge: A starship or spaceship's design places the bridge (i.e. the most important part of ship) in a location that easily exposes it to danger.
* EverythingInSpaceIsAGalaxy: Handfuls of stars and planets are treated as entire galaxies.
* FasterThanLightTravel: Spaceships that can move faster than light.
* FishbowlHelmet: The usual accompaniment to a LatexSpaceSuit.
* FTLTravelSickness: Traveling faster than light can do bad things to people who aren't properly protected.
* FlyingSaucer: A spaceship shaped like a saucer.
* GalacticConqueror: A villain who wants to conquer or destroy the ''whole universe''.
* GalacticSuperpower: Someone has political power over a large area of space.
* GenerationShips: A starship has several generations living and dying on it.
* GeneticAdaptation: Outsiders adapt to a hostile environment (such as that on other planets) by genetically modifying themselves.
* GravitySucks: Gravity is depicted as "catching" or "sucking" things.
* {{Heavyworlder}}: Someone from a planet with more gravity than Earth.
* HomeworldEvacuation: The planet is no longer inhabitable, forcing (a portion of) the populace to pack up and leave for elsewhere.
* HurlItIntoTheSun: Throwing something into a star.
* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: The dimension used for teleportation/warp speed is dangerous.
* HyperspaceLanes: When travelling faster than the speed of light, you have to go certain places at certain times.
* HyperspeedAmbush: Using hyperspace to attack.
* HyperspeedEscape: Using faster-than-light travel to escape.
* ImprovisedMicrogravityManeuvering: Using thrust to push oneself through space.
* IndustrializedMercury: The planet UsefulNotes/{{Mercury}} is used as an industrial hub for a ColonizedSolarSystem.
* InexplicableCulturalTies: Aliens with pretty Earth-like cultures.
* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Somebody's face is visible through a space helmet.
* InterplanetaryVoyage: A story that focuses on the difficulties of a space voyage.
* InterstellarWeapon: A weapon that will hit something light-years away.
* KillSat: A satellite designed to kill.
* LatexSpaceSuit: A very tight spacesuit.
* LibertariansInSpace: A setting where Earth has become narrow-minded and nonconformists are sent to live in space.
* LifeInZeroG: Lifeforms that have evolved to live in the gravityless void.
* LightspeedLeapfrog: A spaceship that can't travel faster than light is beaten by one that can.
* {{Lightworlder}}: Someone from a low-gravity planet.
* LostColony: A human colony in space that's lost contact with Earth.
* MaleSunFemaleMoon: The sun portrayed as male and the moon as female.
* MegaMawManeuver: A huge spaceship uses its door to "swallow" a smaller one.
* MentalSpaceTravel: "Teleporting" people to other planets by uploading their brains to their destination.
* TheMilkyWayIsTheOnlyWay: Nobody can go beyond the Milky Way.
* TheMothership: The flagship of an alien army.
* NegativeSpaceWedgie: A strange, dangerous event in space.
* NoEndorHolocaust: Something huge explodes but leaves little to no collateral damage.
* NoGravityForYou: A villain whose weakness is they can't fight in zero-gravity.
* NoSeatBelts: Spaceships don't have safety belts.
* NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus: Never seeing a godlike alien as an actual deity.
* NoWarpingZone: An area where travelling faster than light is not allowed.
* NuclearTorchRocket: Amp up your piddly little chemical rockets by heating the propellant with nuclear power.
* OldSchoolDogfight: Planes and spaceships fighting like pre-Cold War planes even when they logically shouldn't.
* OnlyElectricSheepAreCheap: Natural things are more expensive than an artificial version of it.
* OrbitalBombardment: Shooting from orbit.
* OrionDrive: Using nukes to travel through space.
* OurDarkMatterIsMysterious: Dark matter makes up as much as 4/5 of the visible universe. Nobody knows what it actually is, so writers fill in the gaps.
* OurWormholesAreDifferent: Exploiting wormholes.
* PlanarShockwave: When something explodes in space, there's a ring of... stuff.
* PlanetaryRelocation: Relocating planets.
* PortalNetwork: Space travel via portals.
* PoweredByABlackHole: Harnessing a black hole as a power source.
* PsychicStarshipPilot: Psychics are the ideal pilots for faster-than-light travel.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: Ramming a spaceship with another always destroys one of them.
* RamScoop: A spaceship that fuels itself by collecting hydrogen directly from space.
* ReentryScare: While someone reenters the atmosphere, it goes quiet for dramatic effect.
* RocketlessReentry: Going back to Earth from space without using rockets.
* RoguePlanet: Planets not in orbit around (a) star(s)
* SalvagePirates: Being saved and endangered at the same time by pirates.
* SaveSat: A satellite crashing down has a beneficial/defensive effect.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Sci-fi writers make distances in space seem smaller than in reality.
* SciFiFlyby: Used as an establishing shoot to tell the audience that what they're seeing is a CoolShip.
* ShinyLookingSpaceships: A spaceship that looks shiny.
* SilentRunningMode: A vessel going silent to avoid detection. Often used by spaceships.
* SleeperStarship: A slow spacecraft that puts the passengers in hibernation until they arrive at their destination.
* SmallUniverseAfterAll: Easily travelling to other galaxies.
* SolarSail: Spaceships that run with a device like a sail but that uses the sun's power.
* SpaceAmish: Space travelers who use more primitive technology.
* SpaceBase: The villain's space station.
* SpaceBattle: Fighting in space.
* SpaceBrasilia: An alien species with only one form of architecture.
* SpaceCadet: Kind of like a police officer but in space.
* SpaceCadetAcademy: Where you learn to be a space cadet.
* SpaceClothes: People wear wacky clothes in space.
* SpaceClouds: Nebulae that seem like clouds.
* SpaceColdWar: A war in space that's sort of like the Cold War.
* SpaceCossacks: A rugged group of outlaws lost in space.
* SpaceElevator: An elevator or similar that takes people to space.
* SpaceElves: Elvish, smug, possibly superior aliens.
* SpaceEpisode: An episode of a normally Earth-set series is set in space.
* SpaceFighter: A little spaceship designed for combat.
* SpaceFriction: If a spaceship breaks, it will slow down and eventually stop.
* SpaceIsAir: Spaceships are like planes.
* SpaceIsAnOcean: Space is compared to the ocean.
* SpaceIsCold: Things freeze in space.
* SpaceIsMagic: Space is incomprehensible.
* SpaceIsNoisy: You can hear noises in space.
* SpaceIsSleepy: Space is associated with sleep.
* SpaceIsSlowMotion: Things move slowly in zero-gravity.
* SpaceIsolationHorror: Horror derived from the emptiness and loneliness of space.
* SpaceJews: An alien that has traits associated with a racial/religious stereotype.
* SpaceMadness: Being in space makes you insane.
* SpaceMarine: Troops in spaceships that are sort of like marines.
* SpaceMask: Face or head protection that's somehow a substitute for a full space suit.
* SpaceMaster: Characters who have the ability to control the fabric of space and spatial dimensions.
* SpaceMines: Like {{Sea Mine}}s but in space.
* SpaceNavy: A military fleet of spaceships.
* SpaceNomads: People who live in space and don't really have a place to call home.
* SpaceOpera: An epic adventure story set in space.
* SpaceOrcs: Brutish, violent and primitive aliens.
* SpacePeople: People who live in space.
* SpacePirates: Pirates in space.
* SpacePlane: A spacecraft that looks and can take off and land like an airplane.
* SpacePolice: An organization of peacekeepers in space.
* SpaceRomans: An alien culture that resembles a historical Earth culture.
* SpaceSailing: Spaceships that look like sea ships.
* SpaceSector: Specific regions in space are described as "the Something Sector" or "Sector Something".
* SpaceStation: An artificial structure in space.
* SpaceSuitsAreSCUBAGear: Space suits with visible air tubes.
* SpaceTravelVeto: Opposition, restrictions or bans on space travel.
* SpaceTrucker: People who haul cargo from one planet to another.
* SpaceWestern: A cowboyish story set in space.
* SpaceWhale: Creatures on space that resemble whales.
* SpaceX: An alien creature has the word "space" somewhere in its name.
* SpaceZone: Unrealistic video game space.
* SpaceshipSlingshotStunt: Heading towards an item with heavy gravity in space so that they'd get flung back into space like a slingshot.
* SpySatellites: Satellites that watch you from space.
* StandardAlienSpaceship: Alien ships are smooth and colorful.
* StandardEstablishingSpaceshipShot: The spaceship entering the screen to establish how cool it is.
* StandardHumanSpaceship: Spaceships piloted by humans all look the same.
* StandardizedSpaceViews: Stock space scenes.
* StandardSciFiFleet: Spaceship classification similar to the navy.
* StandardStarshipScuffle: Spaceships fighting.
* StandardTimeUnits: A group of planets that have one way of measuring time.
* StarshipLuxurious: A spaceship with very large rooms.
* StealthInSpace: A spaceship can turn itself invisible.
* StellarStation: A type of space station in close orbit around the Sun or other stars.
* SubLightspeedSetting: A setting with space travel at strictly slower-than-light speeds.
* SubspaceAnsible: Faster-than-light space communication.
* SubspaceOrHyperspace: Areas of space that can do things that are impossible in regular space.
* SublightSubterfuge: Normally, you would use FTL to travel interstellar distances. But your situation isn't normal.
* SuperheroesInSpace: Superheroes whose missions commonly take place beyond Earth.
* {{Teleportation}}: Disappearing from one location and reappearing in another.
* {{Terraform}}: A planet's enviroment is artificially changed to better suit a species, human-like or otherwise.
* ThrownOutTheAirlock: Someone gets thrown out of a spaceship's airlock without a spacesuit on.
* TimeDilation: Time passes slower in space.
* TractorBeam: A beam of light that can pull things through space.
* TranshumansInSpace: Humans in space who have been augmented.
* TransplantedHumans: Humans that came from space because their ancestors were taken from space.
* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: Aliens specify that they're talking about our time, not their time.
* UngovernableGalaxy: It's impossible for a whole galaxy to have a government.
* UnitedSpaceOfAmerica: Interstellar travel programs work in a similar way to American culture.
* UniversalUniverseTime: The whole universe uses the same measurements of time.
* UnnecessarilyLargeVessel: A ship is way bigger than it needs to be.
* UnrealisticBlackHole: A black hole that doesn't work like a real black hole.
* WagonTrainToTheStars: A series takes place on a ship.
* TheWarOfEarthlyAggression: The Earth is the leader of an interplanetary group, but some of the planets start a revolution.
* WeaponizedExhaust: A spaceship's exhaust fumes are used as a weapon.
* WhatOtherGalaxies: Dialogue that suggests this is the only galaxy.
* WizardsFromOuterSpace: Fantasy stuff happens in space.
* ZeroGSpot: Sex in space.
* ZodiacMotifs: Constellations that are used as a motif.
[[/index]]

!!Useful Notes:
[[index]]
* UsefulNotes/BlackHoles
* UsefulNotes/TheMilkyWayGalaxy
* UsefulNotes/{{Planets}}
** UsefulNotes/DwarfPlanets
* UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem
** UsefulNotes/TheSun
** Solar System Planets:
*** UsefulNotes/{{Mercury}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Venus}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Earth}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Jupiter}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Uranus}}
*** UsefulNotes/{{Neptune}}
** Natural Satellites / Moons:
*** UsefulNotes/TheMoon
*** UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter
*** UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfSaturn
*** UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfUranus
[[/index]]
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->[-''[[Creator/MelBrooks See! TROPES! IN! SPAAAAAAAAAACE!]]''-]
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