FTL

FTL stands for Faster Than Light travel and is the primary source of travel when trying to get between solar systems.

In the game
Note: As the game is still in pre alpha the below is subject to change.

Within the game FTL allows you to jump to any point in the galaxy you want, but there are a number of limitations. First  FTL will either use special FTL fuel or a lot of 'supplies' which are used by ships to move, eat, and shoot. The FTL will have a major charge up (~30 sec) and cool down (~15 mins), where the shields are down and weapons cannot fire (Read: dead in the water). Also when an FTL is utilized there will essentially be two copies of a ship due to the physics of FTL: one at the starting location and one at the destination. This means that there are now two places the ship can be attacked while it is defenseless and going through the jump. Lastly using FTL will not just be a simple from point A to point B; the further away point B is the higher chance there is of being inaccurate. Therefore short jumps will be relatively safe, but far ones will be dangerous. Also this inaccuracy is also specific to a ship meaning that a group a ships will be scattered when coming out of a jump.

Example
 There is a small convoy, one freighter and two escorts, and the destination is on the complete opposite side of the galaxy. The freighter has it's cargo loaded and all ships are stocked for the trip, the FTLs are activated, and all three jump together. Unfortunately the escorts had their calculations off; one turned up in a sun, never to be seen again, and the other appeared in random empty space. The freighter however was spot on, but unfortunately a pirate player was waiting for it at the destination. Unable to do anything while it goes the FTL jump, the freighter gets destroyed and the cargo was lost. Perhaps it would have been better to just do several FTL jumps, invest in some sub-light engines, and do some regular travel between jumps, but time is money.

How to make a ship FTL capable
In order to make a ship FTL capable you add the FTL engine under the utlity section of the ship designer. Keep in mind FTL engines are rather expensive in terms of cost and CP.