Stealth

Stealth can refer to any method by which one attempts to conceal themselves. In space, stealth is extremely difficult at best to achieve outright, requiring specific circumstances to be effective.

Spacecraft and other spaceborne objects can conceal themselves by reducing their radiation level down to ambient levels, appearing at long range as nothing more than spaceborne debris. Such a state requires the spacecraft expel its waste heat, during which time the craft is easily detectable, and after which it must remain at a low energy state to retain its concealment. Even at this point, security scanners can pick up such spaceborne objects only meters across or less at interplanetary ranges. The SIs in charge of such active systems can additionally register odd geometry and mass for objects of the target’s shape and size, forcing stealth craft to require visual camouflage in addition to their other features.

Such restrictions therefore limit stealth technology to long-term defensive roles, as offensively they would be detected on approach and tracked thereafter. Even passive watchtower arrays catalog and register all movements throughout a system, detecting any objects of excess waste heat or unnatural geometry and maintaining a tracking lock on them thereafter.

Hiding

The only potentially viable places to hide in space are ring systems, where sufficiently large pieces of debris within rings can allow the total visual concealment of a probe or other small craft. At a low enough energy level, covert probes can use ring systems for cover for extended periods of time. Rings young enough may even contain debris tens to hundreds of meters across, permitting the concealment of larger spacecraft.

Spacecraft can also hide behind any celestial body for a time, but their orbit will inevitably carry them in full view of all surrounding space. This can nevertheless take them outside of effective weapons range, giving them time to land on the world below or prepare a warp jump out of the system.