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"I just can't be politic. I never learned how to do that and I don't like doing that. I think it's false."
- Harlan Ellison

Space-Drive  
  A means of providing propulsion for a spacecraft.  

As far as I know, the first use of this general term.

There we shall have plenty of work to do, but on the way we are going to stop at Mars and pick up that very valuable ship of theirs and make a very careful examination for possible new weapons, their system of speed-drive, and their regular space-drive, if it is not the same.
Technovelgy from Invaders From The Infinite, by John W. Campbell.
Published by Experimental Publishing Co. in 1932
Additional resources -

In case you were curious, and wanted more details:

Their regular drive is a molecular drive with lead disintegration apparatus for the energy, cosmic ray absorbers for the heating, and a drive much like ours. Their speed drive is a time distortion apparatus, I'll wager. Time distinction offers an easy solution of speed. All speed is relative--relative to other bodies, but also to time-speed. But we'll see.

Compare to Lyle drive from Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) by Robert Heinlein, the ion drive from Equalizer (1947) by Jack Williamson, the asymptotic drive from Imperial Earth (1976) by Arthur C. Clarke and the gravity drive from Star Ship (1950) by Poul Anderson.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Invaders From The Infinite
  More Ideas and Technology by John W. Campbell
  Tech news articles related to Invaders From The Infinite
  Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell

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