Foundation’s Spacers Explained: What They Are & Why The Empire Needs Them

The Spacers are quietly one of the most interesting parts of Foundation lore, but it’s easy for the information surrounding them to get lost among the intertwining of various storylines. The Spacers often take a back seat to the action for large portions of the Apple TV+ show, so they remain enigmatic in many episodes. However, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been information on the Spacers slotted into the story, especially after the events of Foundation season 2.

Despite the relatively low amount of time spent on screen, Foundation has revealed a fair amount of information on the Spacers. From their origins to their purpose, the Isaac Asimov adaptation has covered many bases, including facts about their biology and how important Spacers are to the Imperial fleet and Empire at large. While the Spacers exist in the source material, a lot about their lore is currently exclusive to the show.

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The Spacers In Foundation Are Genetically Augmented Humans

They didn’t evolve naturally

Their ethereal appearance may suggest otherwise, but Spacers are human at their core. However, their physiology has been altered so that they have become a separate life form altogether. Their bodies and minds have been augmented with circuitry, so they are, at least in part, artificial beings. Some Spacers even continue to modify themselves, making those that do appear even less human than they already did.

Although their modifications tend to make certain groups in Foundation believe that Spacers are more tools than people, the Spacers have demonstrated their sentience on numerous occasions. This goes to show that Spacers are valid individuals who are more than beings who were once human and suggests they have their own goals and aspirations beyond their service to Empire. This is evidenced by the Foundation season 2 ending when Hober Mallow convinces the Spacers to turn their backs on their masters in the name of freedom.

Spacers also appear in the original Foundation books by Isaac Asimov, but their background has only been loosely adapted for the TV show. In Asimov’s books, Spacers are also human, but they have not undergone the process of augmentation. Instead, the term “Spacer” is used to refer to the first wave of humans who left Earth to settle on other planets. Another difference between the two versions of the Spacers is that in the Foundation TV show, they remain on ships for their entire lives. In the books, the heart of their civilization takes the form of an enormous craft known as the Home Swarm.

Spacers Are Necessary For Imperial Jumpships To Work

They were created to Navigate

When ordinary humans make use of light-speed space travel in Foundation, it can damage their minds. Witnessing travel at such speeds can have dire psychological consequences because the process is impossible for almost all humans to comprehend. Spacers have been altered in such a way that their perceptions and physical movements have been slowed. As a result, they can remain conscious during a jump without facing the same issues as humans do.

Without Spacers, Empire’s fleet would be rendered functionally immobile, as non-Spacer crew members are placed into a form of hibernation during light-speed travel. Spacers serve as navigators for Empire, as they are the only group capable of remaining conscious and monitoring the journey, making adjustments when necessary, and checking in on their slumbering passengers. Their existence is essential to maintain Empire’s vast grasp on the galaxy.

It should be noted that an Imperial jumpship does not require a Spacer for it to operate, but for non-Spacers to undergo a jump while still conscious is what causes them issues. This is why a Spacer must always be on board as a caretaker to ensure nothing goes wrong during the jump as it progresses. Interestingly, Gaal Dornick was conscious for a short while during a jump, and she suffered no ill effects. As a human, she is an outlier for being able to do so.

Foundation’s Spacers Are Treated Poorly By Empire

They are forced into service

Empire takes no risks of the Spacers abandoning their posts, and the steps they take to keep hold of their navigators are rather inhumane. Spacers require an essential micro-nutrient known as opalesk, the control of which falls under Empire’s jurisdiction. The restriction of opalesk is no more than a power play to make sure the Imperial fleet doesn’t lose its most vital assets. Spacers in Foundation tend to have unusual and literal names. Two examples of Spacers’ names include “She-Bends-Light” and “She-Is-Center.”

For the Spacers to receive the opalesk their physiologies require, they must provide Empire with ten percent of their offspring to man their ships. Not only does this confirm that the Spacers’ alterations don’t prevent them from reproducing in some way, but it also reaffirms the absolute cruelty of Empire. The treatment of the Spacers in Foundation goes to show the opinion that Empire has of them. The Spacers are viewed by Empire as lower lifeforms and only valuable due to their use as navigators. The Spacers’ subjugation ultimately leads to them betraying their masters rather than ensuring their loyalty.

Older Ships Like The Invictus Had Ways Of Jumping Without Spacers

Empire’s reliance on Spacers is outdated

Spacers are not the only way to accommodate faster-than-light travel, as the show has shown other methods of how characters successfully traverse the galaxy. One ship in particular, the Invictus in Foundation, is salvaged after hundreds of years of emptiness, only to reveal that the vessel can jump through space with the use of a human fitted with an interface. Although, it could be argued that the pilot would be something of a proto-Spacer. The show also shows the Invictus being piloted by an unaltered human, but it results in their demise.

Empire is surprised to discover that they are not the only ones with access to jumpdrive technology within the present timeline of the show. During the First Foundation’s time in exile, they have also developed the ability to jump through space, and have even bypassed the need to use Spacers when doing so. The revelation puts Imperial forces in a state of unease, as they had previously believed themselves to be superior to the Foundation in every way.

The existence of jumpdrive technology without the need for Spacers suggests there may be other methods of achieving the feat that have yet to be discovered within the world of Foundation. The Spacers may have been developed by humanity with a specific role in mind, but freedom from their intended purpose is seemingly possible. This has given Foundation the possibility of presenting the Spacers as an independent race who no longer answer to Empire, or even one that aligns itself with the Foundation and Hari Seldon’s prophecies.