Antimatter, warp drive and solar sail spacecraft, illustration. Antimatter propulsion (upper left) is a theoretical future spaceship technology that uses the energy released by the total annihilation that occurs when antimatter and matter meet. Solar sail spacecraft (upper right) have a large, sail-like, thin membrane for sailing with sunlight. Pressure accumulates through the reflection of countless photons of light, emitted by stars such as our Sun, or from lasers. Warp drive spacecraft (foreground) are a theoretical concept where a spacecraft travels faster than light by contracting the space in front of it and expanding the space behind it.