Hyperspace

Jump Rings are spherical gates in space-time that are connected to each other through tunnels in hyperspace. Travel through this passages allows the transit of several light-years in extremely short amounts of time, often requiring between four and twenty minutes for complete travel between one end to the other. This translates to massively superluminal speeds in regular space-time, rendering inter-system colonization possible within human lifetimes.

History
The first Jump Ring was stumbled upon in 2199, during the initial phases of the Interplanetary War. It was believed to be a deadly Bermuda Triangle-esque zone until 2201, when the α-β joint investigation team sent by the UN finally came to consensus about the origin of the anomaly. Although declared a traversable wormhole, the UN government and the SECA administration were reticent when it came to allowing the team passage through the Jump Ring. After much deliberation, Secretary-General Miller announced that the exploration voyage was allowed.

The α-β joint investigation team departed the Sol system on February 22, 2201, at exactly 12:43 p.m., and exited the Jump Ring two minutes later, at 12:45 p.m., finding themselves in the Alpha Centauri system, Sol's closest neighbor. The team sent a probe back through the Jump Ring, announcing their success and the data they had collected.

Many probes were sent through the Jump Ring, aiding the SECA team in exploring the system. Although no habitable planets were found in the primary and secondary parts of the system, a probe was able to detect the presence of an Earth-like planet in orbit around Proxima Centauri, the third star in the system. Because of the distance between Proxima and the Jump Ring, the probe needed three months in order to arrive back at Earth. As a result, the UN government had almost lost hope. However, news of the planet thrilled most of the high ranking officials, who sought immediate colonization.

Despite Proxima's greater radiation spectrum, indigenous life was able to develop. It was later revealed that the planet had an abnormally high magnetic field. This beneficed humanity, protecting the colonists from the high radiation bombardment of the red-dwarf star. However, communications were greatly hardened, and advancement in this domain became imperative.

Structure, access and emergence
Jump Rings tear holes through space-time, connecting two neighboring stars through a tunnel in hyperspace. They are the stable equivalent of wormholes. Although their stability is still a mystery, it has been theorized that negative matter must be present within the tunnel, in order to keep it stable and allow the passage of foreign matter. Their lifespans range from five million to a few billion years.

Jump Rings appear between neighboring stars because of their massive gravitational well when compared to orbiting, substellar objects. However, very large gas giants can affect the connection between the two stars, especially if the star whose planetary system contains the gas giant is small.

The throat of the Jump Ring corresponds to the tunnel that exists in higher dimensional space, region called hyperspace. The passage of foreign matter is relatively safe, however accidents still happen. It is commonly accepted that once matter enters the Jump Ring, it is being pushed towards the exit.

Emergence from the Jump Ring can disturb computers aboard the spaceship, and even kill off communications for a limited amount of time. However, a spaceship exiting the Jump Ring is usually impossible to detect, guaranteeing its safety from ill-intended ships.