Slipspace COM launcher

The Slipspace Communications (COM) launcher is an experimental piece of technology invented by the United Nations Space Command that allows faster-than-light communication. It is the only specifically described example of superluminal communications technology used by humans, with the possible exception of the Slipbeacon.

Function
After a communications is probe launched by an underground gauss accelerator, a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine creates a Slipspace rift in high orbit so that the COM probe goes through Slipspace like a "bullet" on an ultra-precise trajectory. It rips through normal time-space, travels through Slipspace, and drops back into normal space at its pre-set coordinates. The probe can traverse as far and as fast as any UNSC ship.

Distribution
The wide-spread use of this technology could revolutionize long-distance communication, as it is far faster than conventional radio communication. If each ship were outfitted with such a device, messages could be delivered without requiring a ship to travel through space to manually give the message. Unfortunately, the cost to build a Shaw-Fujikawa drive and an ultra-precise low-mass launcher is comparable that of a fleet of ships, and even a single probe is worth the value of a capital city on one of the Outer Colonies.

As of February 20th 2551, only three Slipspace COM launchers were known to exist: there was one each Earth and one on Reach, and a secret one on Onyx. The one on Reach was almost certainly destroyed during the fall of the planet, while the one on Onyx was destroyed by Sentinels it after sent a message to Earth.

According to page 122 of the Halo Graphic Novel, some sort of superluminal communications system was used by Dr. Catherine Halsey to contact Earth while onboard the. Halsey may have used the launcher from Reach to send this message. She was willing to risk several lives to keep this data transfer secret.

In addition, in her journal, Halsey receives an after-action report of the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV on July 18, 2552, the same day the battle took place. This would be impossible without a near-instantaneous communications system, as a ship could not have possibly traveled from Sigma Octanus system to Reach in a matter of hours; it took over three weeks for Battle Group Leviathan to make the journey.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo Graphic Novel
 * Page 122 (Possible indirect appearance)