Launch tubes are extensively used on battlestars as a means of launching Vipers and other similar craft in the re-imagined series.
Galactica has a total of 80 launch tubes, forty per flight pod. They are divided into five groups of eight tubes each.[citation needed] The launch tubes fit one Viper at a time. Four launch tubes are controlled by a launch supervisor. Centrally located, the launch supervisor can observe two launch tubes on either side of the control station thru a wide view port. After running the preliminary checks on the Viper, the launch supervisor presses the launch button and a magnetic catapult throws the Viper out at an incredibly quick speed.
The launch tubes are separated from the hangar deck by large airtight metal doors. When these doors close after the ship is in the tube, the doors at the end of the tube open, allowing the tube to open up into space. Ships are returned to the hangar deck from the landing bay via elevators.
Alert Fighters are kept in the tubes at all times just in case a threat appears and the CAP cannot reach it in time or require reinforcements.
The launch tubes are used to allow the dead a military space funeral when there is no earth in which to bury them (Act of Contrition).
As of "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II" only the port launch tubes are operational. The starboard launch was converted into a gift shop to go with the planned museum in the starboard hangar bay prior to the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. However, the starboard launch was depressurized due to the crashlanding of a Cylon Heavy Raider through the windowed enclosure, which occured when Galactica attempted to recalculate the coordinates of the Fleet. (Scattered)
See also
- Captain Aaron Kelly, the Landing Signal Officer on Galactica