Maneuvering thruster
Maneuvering thrusters (often referred to as simply thrusters) were used by starships and other spacecraft to make precise movements in lieu of primary impulse or warp engine use. The thrusters were low- reaction control jets that could be used for fine translational and attitudinal control, including station-keeping. They were most typically used in docking or similar maneuvers. (; ; )

In 2153, Travis Mayweather, while piloting Shuttlepod 2 away from an asteroid, lost the left thruster due to debris from the asteroids. He made it back to  only using the right thruster. ()

In spacedock, all vessels were required to stay at maneuvering thrusters until they had cleared the outer space doors. ()

All reaction-based technologies operated on the Newtonian principle of the "Law of Inertia": that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. This was similar in some ways to impulse engine technologies and thrusters were sometimes called impulse thrusters or maneuvering jets. (; )

On a  refit, the maneuvering thrusters were placed along the outer edges of the hull. () In Starfleet during the 24th century, maneuvering thrusters were part of the reaction control system and were also placed in similar positions. () These were typically placed in groups of four or "quads" on starships. (; )

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Propulsion technology