Starfleet
This article describes the Starfleet organization in the Star Trek universe; for other uses see Starfleet (disambiguation)In the
fictional universe of
Star Trek,
Starfleet is the
paramilitary defense,
research,
diplomacy, and
exploration force of the
United Federation of Planets (UFP) with â€" as of the late
24th century â€" hundreds of
starships and
starbases at its disposal.
Starfleet Headquarters is located in
San Francisco, California.
Starfleet's early history was left obscure, until the series
Star Trek: Enterprise demonstrated that an Earth Starfleet had been operating at least 18 years prior to the founding of the Federation (according to the episode "
First Flight"), as Starfleet conducted the Warp 2 and 3 tests and several high-ranking officers referred to graduating from
Starfleet Academy.
It is possible Starfleet is a branch of the United Earth Space Probe Agency, or is in fact the same organization. During production of early episodes of the
original series, several details of the makeup of the Star Trek universe had yet to be worked out, including the operating authority for the
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). Several episodes refer to UESPA as the Enterprise's operating authority before the term 'Starfleet' became widespread.
References to UESPA in the
Star Trek universe can be dated back as far as 2067, as the Friendship One probe was marked with the letters UESPA-1, implying the organization began shortly after
Zefram Cochrane's first
Warp flight in 2063 (
Phoenix). Other background props included UESPA references as well, such as Capt.
Jean-Luc Picard's family album in
Star Trek: Generations.
During the production of Enterprise, some larger Starfleet insignia designs included the script "United Earth Space Probe Agency" to pay homage to the original series and explain away the contradiction of competing agencies by implying they are, in fact, the same organization, which serves as the exploration arm of the
United Federation of Planets.
It was under Starfleet's auspices that humanity expanded upon Cochrane's vision of instellar warp flight. Incorporating research begun by Cochrane and Henry Archer in 2119, Starfleet research led to the first successful flight of Warp 2 and Warp 3 engines in the 2140s. This greatly expanded the reach of humanity across the stars. Since Cochrane's first warp flight in 2063, Earth had founded a few colonies in nearby star systems and established trade routes with a few species, such as the
Vulcans and Denobulans, the latter serving as administrators of an asteroid medical research complex that housed the remaining Augment embryos from the days of the Eugenics Wars. Soon after, the first attempts of deep-space exploration were conducted (
USS Valiant).
Starfleet was responsible for launching the first Human Warp 5-capable starship, the
Enterprise NX-01 in 2151, followed by
Columbia in 2155, and other vessels.
The Romulan Wars of 2156-60 likely saw an expansion of Starfleet's military role. Most of Earth's overtly military functions to this point, such as the counterstrike against the Xindi of 2153-54, had been handled by the Military Assault Command (MACO), using Starfleet vessels for transport.
With the signing of the Federation charter in 2161, Starfleet became the lead exploratory and military wing of the
United Federation of Planets, and alien crewmembers became more common though it is possible that member planets, such as Vulcan, continued to conduct independent fleet operations. Over time, design integrations from the various member worlds would lead to a more homogenized fleet design, and it was not uncommon for fully alien crews, such as Vulcans, to serve on Starfleet-designed ships by the 24th century. Some pacifists within Starfleet's ranks would debate its military function, but an objective reading of Starfleet history cannot rule out its military role.
Eventually, Starfleet would adopt its
Prime Directive of non-interference with developing worlds. This was not a human construct, but stemmed from policies originally implemented by the Vulcans, who used the attainment of warp speed as a barometer for making first contact with a civilization. The prime directive and Starfleet's first contact policies would evolve over the first two centuries of the Federation's existence to the point where many legal scholars and Starfleet officers interpreted the prime directive not to apply to warp-capable civilizations in terms of providing aid, but still prevented overt interference in a planet's internal governmental affairs, regardless of technological level.
Many of Starfleet's Headquarters buildings on Earth are concentrated just North-east of the
Golden Gate Bridge in the Fort Baker area. Starfleet's Academy is located in the
Presidio of San Francisco, a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, with some buildings being further inland.
With Earth's expansion of influence following the deployment of Warp 5 vessels, Starfleet began establishing a series of
starbases throughout what would become Federation territory. Within 200 years, Starfleet would have hundreds of bases, which would serve as regional headquarters, supply depots and ports of call for Starfleet crews. Starbases were built either as planetside facilities, an offshoot of existing embassies, or as orbital docking stations.
Starfleet has been shown to handle diplomatic, scientific, and military missions, although their main mandate seems to be one of peaceful exploration in the search of sentient life. The flagship of Starfleet is often considered to be the starship
USS Enterprise, even though that ship has generally not been commanded by a
flag officer.
In the early years of Starfleet, as seen in
Star Trek: Enterprise, Starfleet's mission is purely exploration and is not military in any sense except for weapons designed for defensive capabilities until the retrofitting of the
Enterprise and the incorporation of
MACOs after the
Xindi attack on Earth. It is assumed this trend continues as Starfleet adopts a more traditional military role and assumes its regular place as the exploratory
and defensive arm of the UFP.
Most members of Starfleet who handle day-to-day operations are enlisted persons. There are also Warrant Officers and Commissioned Officers in leadership positions. Officers typically serve as department heads and as commanders. Most officers are trained at
Starfleet Academy San Francisco, California, Earth in a four-year course which trains them in skills such as
warp travel and military tactics.
Starfleet ranks and insignia are similar to those used by the
United States Navy.
Starfleet consists of many branches which make up the organization, namely:
*
Starfleet Academy*
Starfleet Engineering Corps*
Starfleet Command*
Starfleet Intelligence**
Section 31**
Temporal Investigations*
Starfleet Medical*
Starfleet Security*
Starfleet Tactical*
Starfleet Judge Advocate General*Starfleet Inspector General
Though Starfleet is composed of individuals from many races,
Humans are the most often seen crewmembers onscreen, with
Vulcans perhaps being the most common aliens seen.
Star Trek: The Next Generation saw the introduction of Starfleet's first
Klingon officer, and other races such as
Bolians,
Betazoids,
Trills were seen and given more central roles in later series. For its first two seasons,
Star Trek: Enterprise was the only show to have an entirely Human Starfleet crew owing to its being set before the formation of the Federation, though the vessel did carry Doctor
Phlox, a
Denobulan serving in a medical exchange program, and
T'Pol, then serving as an observer from the
Vulcan High Command.
Apparently, Earth citizenship was not a necessary pre-condition to joining Starfleet, as T'Pol enlisted following the
Xindi mission and her resignation from the High Command. Even after the formation of the Federation, it seems Federation citizenship is still not a requirement, as several officers are from planets that are not part of the Federation. For example,
Bajoran Colonel
Kira Nerys was field commissioned as a Starfleet commander so that she could aid the
Cardassian resistance during the
Dominion War without jeopardizing Bajor's non-agression pact with the
Dominion. Additionally,
Nog became the first
Ferengi in Starfleet. Also, Quinn and
Icheb (
Star Trek: Voyager) both spoke of joining Starfleet. While
Worf,
Ro Laren, and
Sito Jaxa were all from non-Federation planets, it is possible they were granted asylum and gained citizenship when they came to the Federation.
In other
science fiction universes,
starfleet is used as an alternative name for starfaring
space navies.
The
Imperial Navy in
Star Wars, for example, is also called the "Imperial Starfleet". Prior to the creation of the Galactic Empire, the Galactic Republic maintained a small military force that among other names was sometimes called the "Judicial Starfleet". This lasted until the Clone Wars, when military expansion in the Republic led to the Republic's space naval forces once more being called the Republic Navy, while the ground forces were incorporated into the Grand Army of the Republic.
This term does not apply to all storylines; the naval military forces in
Wing Commander, for example, are known simply as the Terran Confederation Navy, while the main military force in
Macross is known as the
UN Spacy. The term
starfleet was also used in several episodes of
Doctor Who prior to the creation of
Star Trek.
Star Fleet (two words) is a fleet of
tugboats in the series
TUGS.
*
List of Starfleet ship classes*
Starfleet ranks and insignia*
Comparative Ranks and Insignia of Star Trek*
alt.starfleet.rpg
