The hyperdrive functioned by sending hypermatter particles to hurl a ship into hyperspace while preserving the vessel's mass/energy profile, and required a functional hyperdrive motivator to do so. As a consequence, the hyperdrive was a key instrument in shaping galactic society, trade, politics, and war. The hyperdrive was a propulsion system that allowed a starship to reach lightspeed and traverse the void between stars in the alternate dimension of hyperspace. Obi-Wan Kenobi attempts to mend a T-14 hyperdrive generator