The fastest man made object was the Helios 2 space probe which reached only 252,792 Kph (157,078 mph).
Space is not a perfect vacuum, and as such a limited amount of friction acts upon craft.
Also of more concern is the effects of gravity on the craft, the universal law of gravitation states that any two masses experience a attraction directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of their distance.
However gravity can and does work to our advantage. We can intentionally send a craft into a large bodies gravity well causing it to accelerate toward the body and with a relatively low amount of fuel alter the trajectory to escape orbit. The accelerates the craft more efficiently than just using an engine and conserves fuel which really is the biggest limiting factor is speed.
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