Launch tube (TRS)
Launch tubes are extensively used on battlestars as a means of launching Vipers in all three of the Battlestar Galactica series.
Overview
The launch tubes fit one Viper at a time. Each one is manned by a launch supervisor. After running the preliminary checks on the Viper, the launch supervisor presses the launch button and the clutch pushes the Viper out at an incredibly quick speed. The launch tubes are separated from the hangar deck by large airtight metal doors. When these doors close after the ship is in the tube, the doors at the end of the tube open, allowing the tube to open up into space.
Alert Fighters are kept in the tubes at all times just in case a threat appears and the CAP cannot reach it in time or such.
The launch tubes are used to allow the dead a military space funeral when there is no earth in which to bury them in (Act of Contrition).
As of "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II" only the port launch tubes are operational. Starboard launch was converted into a gift shop to go with the museum in the starboard hangar bay prior to the destruction of the Twelve Colonies.