Jupiter-class

Battlestar Galactica 2004 Continuity
Battlestar Galactica 2004, Caprica and Blood & Chrome

Jupiter-class
General Information
Affiliation:	United Colonies of Kobol Colonial Fleet
Technical Specifications
Type:	Battleship/Carrier
Crew:	~3500
Length:	1438.6 Meters
Width:	536.8 Meters
Height:	183.3 Meters
Armament:	24 Primary Dual KEW 12 Missile Tubes
Defenses:	514 Dual point-Defense KEW Partial Armor Plating
Aviation facilities:	2x Flight Pods 2x Flight Decks 80x Viper Launch Tubes
Complement:	Viper Mk. VIIa Viper Mk. VIIb Raptor Mk. II Raptor Mk. II Heavy
Propulsion:	6x Sublight Engines Manoeuvring Thrusters
FTL:	Yes
General Information
Affiliation:	United Colonies of Kobol Colonial Fleet
Technical Specifications
Type:	Battleship/Carrier
Crew:	~3500
Length:	1438.6 Meters
Width:	536.8 Meters
Height:	183.3 Meters
Armament:	24 Primary Dual KEW 12 Missile Tubes
Defenses:	514 Dual point-Defense KEW Partial Armor Plating
Aviation facilities:	2x Flight Pods 2x Flight Decks 80x Viper Launch Tubes
Complement:	Viper Mk. III Viper Mk. IV Viper Mk. V Viper Mk. VI Raptor Mk. II Raptor Mk. II Heavy
Propulsion:	6x Sublight Engines Manoeuvring Thrusters
FTL:	Yes
General Information
Affiliation:	United Colonies of Kobol Colonial Fleet
Technical Specifications
Type:	Battleship/Carrier
Crew:	~5000
Length:	1438.6 Meters
Width:	536.8 Meters
Height:	183.3 Meters
Armament:	40 Primary Dual KEW
Defenses:	582 Dual point-Defense KEW Armor Plating
Aviation facilities:	2x Flight Pods 2x Flight Decks 80x Viper Launch Tubes
Complement:	Viper Mk. I Viper Mk. II Viper Mk. III Raptor Mk. I Raptor Mk.II
Propulsion:	6x Sublight Engines Manoeuvring Thrusters
FTL:	Yes

The Jupiter-class battlestar was a type of warship, operated by the Colonial Fleet, for nearly its entire duration. Based on the previous Artemis-class model, they were battleship/carrier hybrids in the center of Colonial Fleets called Battlestar Group. An initial order of twelve, each to represent one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was included in the Articles of Colonization document establishing both the Colonial Fleet and the United Colonies of Kobol. Unlike all pre-war designs, the Jupiters were uniquely designed with un-networked computers in mind, giving them an extraordinary ability to withstand Cylon infiltration, otherwise a massive problem for older Colonial vessels. Out of the original twelve battlestars, two survived the war intact, with only Galactica surviving until the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.

Design

Armament

Jupiter-class was armed with kinetic energy weapons scattered throughout the ship, primarily located on its dorsal and ventral hull (2 groups of 4 on each side), each capable of firing large shells at any target, usually enemy vessels. Twenty-four batteries made the Jupiter's one of, if not the heaviest hitters of the Colonial Fleet. Only during the interwar period the newer and larger battlestars of Mercury-class began to outshine Jupiter's in their offensive role.

Twelve missile tubes, armed with both conventional and nuclear-tipped weapons give Jupiter's the capability to level entire cities within minutes. Unlike Valkyrie-type, which uses its main batteries to fire missiles, the Jupiter carries its missile on top of its middle section, in separate missile tubes hidden beneath the ship's armor plating.

Defenses

514 CIWS point-defense weapons scattered throughout the ship to defend against the incoming ordinance and enemy fighters. As with virtually every Colonial vessel, this is only half of the ship's defensive potential. Two-layered armor plating provides effective defense against both conventional and nuclear weapons. Like Galactica, virtually all Jupiter's had their armor partially stripped by the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, exposing the inner hull layer and ship's "ribs".

Fighter Complement

Large flight decks support a sizable complement of fighters, multi-purpose crafts, and shuttles. During the Fall, the Jupiter-class carried an assorted complement of Vipers Mk. VIIa and VIIb, alongside Raptors and Colonial shuttles. While the precise numbers are unknown, possessing 40 launch tubes would indicate that the standard loadout of Jupiter-class consists of at least 80 Vipers.

The port and starboard flight pods were designed to be retractable. While Vipers were launched via special tubes on the side of the flight pods, all craft needed to land on the flight deck, which would be extended when needed. As this required the port and starboard flight decks to be exposed to vacuum conditions, the deck was magnetized to simulate gravity conditions when extended.

Computer Systems

Due to the severe threat of Cylon hacking imposed on the Colonial Fleet, Jupiter-class were designed to rely on primitive computers without networking and were less advanced than older ships in the fleet. These computers, whether in the original design or a later refit, could be networked when necessary but, per standard procedure, were not. Calculations for faster-than-light jumps were also limited because of this. By the 0 ACHs, Galactica's computers were considerably slower at computing jumps than modern civilian ships if not networked.

Considering that Galactica was unique, the last ship of her class in service, it can be presumed that post-war build Jupiters were networked like the newer Mercury-class and, therefore, susceptible to Cylon infiltration. The Colonial Fleet actively deployed at least one Jupiter-class in defense of Caprica, and, therefore, likely succumbed to the Command Navigation Program infiltration.

Propulsion

FTL Engines of Jupipter-class

Ships of this class have four main rearward-facing sublight engines mounted on their outer hull, two on the dorsal and ventral surfaces each. Smaller maneuvering thrusters are also scattered throughout the ship, allowing it to maneuver quickly in combat scenarios. At the same time, two synced FTL drives are installed aboard to allow for faster-than-light travel. Unlike the Valkyrie-type, the Jupiter-class is large enough to house its FTL engines internally, mitigating the weakness exposed FTL engines pose.

While state-of-the-art for the Colonials, even by the time of introduction the FTL engines of Jupiter-class were sub-par to contemporary Cylon design. By the time of the Fall, however, this weakness was essentially eliminated, as even relatively un-upgraded Battlestar Galactica could jump every couple of minutes.

Known ships

• Battlestar Archeron (Destroyed around 42 BCH, in the prelude of Operation Raptor Talon)
• Battlestar Athena (Destroyed or Decommissioned)
• Battlestar Columbia BS-70 (Destroyed during Operation Raptor Talon)
• Battlestar Demeter (Destroyed or Decommissioned)
• Battlestar Galactica BS-75 (Decommissioned at the end of the Second Cylon War)
• Battlestar Prometheus (Destroyed or Decommissioned)
• 3 Unknown Jupiter-class battlestar (Destroyed over Scorpia)
• 1 Unknown Jupiter-class battlestar (Destroyed over Caprica)
• 1 Unknown Jupiter-class battlestar taking part in Ghost Fleet Offensive (Destroyed or Decommissioned)

Behind the Scenes

• Jupiter-class was designed by Eric Chu
• Before The Science of Battlestar Galactica revealed the classes name to be Jupiter, the class was commonly referred as Columbia-class or Galactica-type.

Gallery

Screenshots

Concept Art

Concept Art by Chris Bell

Concept Art by Chris Bell

Concept Art by Eric Chu

Unofficial Gallery

Images in this section are not directly taken from the TV show, production or pre-production. They do however use the CGI models originally used by the VFX team. They are usually produced by the original artists, but in their free time.

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune

3D Render by Robert Bonchune