Gateships, dubbed puddle jumpers by the Tau'ri, are small spacecraft created by the Ancients. Several of these ships were discovered in various hangars in Atlantis, and are used by the Atlantis Expedition. Gateships have retractable engines which allows them to fly through Stargates, powerful Ancient drone weapons, and cloaking technology. They are equipped with a neural interface and the ATA gene is required to successfully activate and pilot the ship.

The name "puddle jumper", is a pun on the ship's ability to travel through Stargate event horizons, which visually resemble pools of water. The name was coined by Major John Sheppard, an experienced pilot, who found a serendipitous double meaning when describing the craft. The nomenclature of the ship was protested by Dr. Rodney McKay and Lt. Aiden Ford, who preferred the name gateship, although their suggestion was rejected.

Ironically, the Asurans referred to these ships as gateships, possibly indicating that the Ancients may well have called it that as well in their language.

The Daedalus is the first 304 produced by the Tau'ri, and the second generation of interstellar capital ship developed by the United States military and its allies. Commanded by Colonel Steven Caldwell, her standard mission has been to ferry equipment and personnel between Earth and Atlantis, assisting the expedition team there as needed.

The Daedalus is armed with 32 railguns, Mark-8 tactical warheads, Asgard plasma beam weapons, and a bay of F-302 fighters. It also possesses Asgard shielding and beaming technology. Unlike its predecessor, the Prometheus, this equipment was installed during the ship's production rather than added after the fact. Also unlike the Prometheus, the Daedalus was not equipped with Asgard weaponry, as it was only provided as a refit after the extinction of the Asgard race. To assure that their technologies were not abused, the Asgard provided an engineering expert to monitor the ship's systems. For the first two years of its operation, that role was filled by the Asgard Hermiod. Propulsion consists of standard thrusters as well as an Asgard hyperdrive engine, capable of traveling one way between Earth and Atlantis in 18 days without the use of a ZPM.

Atlantis, also called the Lost City of the Ancients and the City of the Ancestors, Atlantus in Ancient, is a city-ship built by the Ancients several million years ago, and has approximately the same internal space as found in Manhattan. The Ancients left our galaxy several million years ago for the Pegasus galaxy, taking Atlantis with them, and settled on a planet they named Lantea.

Millions of years later, after the Lanteans - the name the Ancients came to be known by - submerged the city to protect it from their enemies, the Wraith, and returned to Earth through the Stargate. Their story, over time, inspired the Tau'ri myth of Atlantis.

The city is mainly powered by a maximum of 3 ZPM's but it can also run with 2 or 1 ZPM's but some systems have to be shut down.