Star Trek: 10 Devices That Every Starfleet Ship Has

10. Tractor Beams

Starfleet has come a long way since the days of Archer's Enterprise when, in order to tow materials, the ship would need to deploy a physical grappling hook. By the time of The Original Series, Starfleet had adopted the much more elegant "tractor beam."

A tractor beam works on the same principle as the ship's artificial gravity. It projects graviton particles that can hold an object in place using the force of gravity and either pull it in or push it away. Starfleet uses these devices to tow damaged vessels, move dangerous asteroids, land shuttlecraft safely, and hold fleeing vessels in place.

Every Federation ship is equipped with multiple tractor beam emitters. They can even be reconfigured for specialty tasks, such as producing earthquakes on a planet (as we see in the Next generation episode Devil's Due) or deflecting weapons (in the Deep Space Nine episode Way Of The Warrior). Tractor beams are generally only used at sub-warp speeds, as towing something too fast with a tractor beam usually causes strain on the ship.