The warship that transports everyone to Icarus base is named U.S.S. George Hammond, the first commanding officer of Stargate Command in Stargate SG-1 (1997). Actor Don S. Davis, who played General Hammond, died of a heart attack one year prior to SGU's first episode. The Stargate franchise likewise 'retired' the character with the same death.
Jack O'Neill has three stars on his uniform shoulder-boards, making him a Lieutenant General. He has advanced two grades since leaving Stargate Command approximately four years earlier. He is a Major General (two stars) in Richard Dean Anderson's guest appearances in the later seasons of Stargate SG-1 (1997) and Stargate: Atlantis (2004). Samantha Carter is still the same rank (Colonel) since her final appearance in Stargate: Atlantis (2004) six months earlier, but has advanced one rank since the finale of Stargate SG-1 (1997) two years earlier.
The desert scenes were filmed at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. These brilliantly white dunes really are gypsum sand.
The online game created by the U.S. Air Force, and which Eli solved, is called "Prometheus". This was also the name of Earth's first interstellar ship in Stargate SG-1 (1997), destroyed approximately 3 and a half years earlier.
The Hammond, originally called the Phoenix in Stargate: Atlantis (2004), is a BC-304 or Daedalus-class ship operated by the United States Air Force. It is the fifth vessel of this class to be seen or referenced in Stargate SG-1 (1997) and its spin-off series and films. The other ships are the U.S. ships Daedalus, Odyssey, and Apollo; the Russian ship Korolev (destroyed on its first mission); and the Chinese ship Sun Tzu.