The aircraft seen in Cowboy Bebop is as diverse and unique as the cast and locations seen on the show. As one would expect on a frontier, they come in all shapes and sizes ranging from diminutive one-manned flyers to massive prison ships. In fact no two aircraft in Cowboy Bebop are alike except in organizational based units such as the ISSP (Inter Solar System Police) and the underworld mafia.

In the year 2071, most if not all aircraft are capable of atmospheric and space flight regardless of how small or how big they are. Unlike the space shuttles of today, they do not seem to require the use of external heat shields or massive batteries of thrusters to power them through the atmosphere and visa versa. However this seems to only apply to small 'ship-planes' the term used to describe atmospheric cum space- going craft. Larger ships such as transports still require considerable thrust generated by large engines to propel them through their inter-planetary journeys. Granted, the effort and time spent in-between is made easier by gates. As described previously in the Bebop 268170 section, the Bebop 268170 is no exception