Starfleet is a fictional organization in the Star Trek media franchise. Within this fictional universe , Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conducting deep space exploration, research, defense , peacekeeping , and diplomacy (although Starfleet predates the Federation, having originally been an Earth organization, as shown by the television series Star Trek: Enterprise ). While most of Starfleet's members are human and it has been headquartered on Earth, hundreds of other species are also represented. Most of the franchise's protagonists are Starfleet commissioned officers .
102-624: 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 . The terms Star Service (" The Conscience of the King "), Spacefleet Command (" The Squire of Gothos "), United Earth Space Probe Agency (" Charlie X " and " Tomorrow Is Yesterday "), and Space Central (" Miri ") were all used to refer to
204-560: A cult following among Trekkies greater than during its original run; by 1976, the cast described Star Trek as "the most popular series in the world". One sign of the series' growing popularity was the first Star Trek convention , which occurred on January 21–23, 1972 in New York City. Although the original expectation was that a few hundred fans would attend, several thousand turned up. Fans continue to attend similar conventions worldwide. The series' newfound success led to
306-540: A tent pole for the studio when other projects failed. The Next Generation had the highest ratings of any Star Trek series and became the most syndicated show during the last years of its original seven-season run. In response to the Next Generation 's success, Paramount released a spin-off series, Deep Space Nine , in 1993. While never as popular as the Next Generation , the series had sufficient ratings for it to last seven seasons. In January 1995,
408-562: A Bajoran aboard the USS Enterprise -D ; her fellow Bajoran Kira Nerys , who was field-commissioned as a Starfleet commander so that she could aid the Cardassian resistance during the Dominion War ; and Ferengi Nog , who enters Starfleet Academy in season four of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ; all were from non-member planets. In addition, Quinn and Icheb from Star Trek: Voyager both spoke of joining Starfleet. An example of
510-726: A JAG court-martial. Courts-martial were held following the loss of the USS Pegasus and USS Stargazer . In the Voyager episode " Parallax ", Tuvok states that the Captain has the authority to conduct a court-martial on the ship, given the circumstance of the ship being isolated from the Federation. Starfleet Medical is the medical branch of Starfleet. Gates McFadden , who played Dr. Beverly Crusher , left Star Trek: The Next Generation during its second season. The character
612-827: A Man ", where Captain Jean-Luc Picard successfully defends Data's right to resign from Starfleet in a trial of his sentience, which extends the right not to work to robots alongside all other sentient beings following the in-universe year 42523.7 (2365 AD.). In 2020, Screen Rant noted the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " First Contact " for exploring the United Federation of Planets and how it sometimes struggles with contact with aliens. Like many things in Star Trek , episodes and films may reference entities or laws within
714-557: A big fan wanted to meet her while attending an NAACP dinner party: I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, 'Sure.' I looked across the room, and there was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walking towards me with this big grin on his face. He reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.' He said that Star Trek was the only show that he, and his wife Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch. [She told King about her plans to leave
816-561: A campaign reminiscent of the one that saved the third season of the Original Series . Paramount renewed Enterprise for a fourth season, but moved it to the Friday night death slot . Like the Original Series , Enterprise ' s ratings dropped during this time slot, and UPN canceled Enterprise at the end of its fourth season. Enterprise aired its final episode on May 13, 2005. A fan group, "Save Enterprise ", attempted to save
918-411: A censor down to the set to measure a woman's cleavage to make sure too much of her breast wasn't showing." Roddenberry intended the show to have a progressive political agenda reflective of the emerging counter-culture of the youth movement, though he was not fully forthcoming to the networks about this. He wanted Star Trek to show what humanity might develop into, if it would learn from the lessons of
1020-490: A contest to build a medical tricorder device was announced in 2012. Ten finalists were selected in 2014, and the winner was to be selected in January 2016. However, no team managed to reach the required criteria. Star Trek also brought teleportation to popular attention with its depiction of "matter-energy transport", with the famously misquoted phrase " Beam me up, Scotty " entering the vernacular. The Star Trek replicator
1122-416: A few months after the Next Generation ended, Paramount released a fourth television series, Voyager . Star Trek production reached a peak in the mid-1990s with Deep Space Nine and Voyager airing concurrently and three of the four Next Generation -based feature films released in 1994, 1996, and 1998. By 1998, Star Trek was Paramount's most important property and the profits of "the franchise" funded
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#17327872923331224-590: A fourth is scheduled for July 2020. The first publisher of Star Trek fiction aimed at adult readers was Bantam Books . James Blish wrote adaptations of episodes of the original series in twelve volumes from 1967 to 1977; in 1970, he wrote the first original Star Trek novel published by Bantam, Spock Must Die! . Pocket Books published subsequent Star Trek novels. Prolific Star Trek novelists include Peter David , Diane Carey , Keith DeCandido , J.M. Dillard , Diane Duane , Michael Jan Friedman , and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens . Several actors from
1326-423: A narrative adventure video game set in the Next Generation era, was released by Dramatic Labs. Star Trek has led directly or indirectly to the creation of a number of magazines which focus either on science fiction or specifically on Star Trek . Starlog was a magazine which was founded in the 1970s. Initially, its focus was on Star Trek actors, but then it expanded its scope. Star Trek: The Magazine
1428-494: A new Federation member world's military is depicted when the Bajoran Militia is integrated into Starfleet upon Bajor's entry into the Federation. The Starfleet insignia have been inspired by the chevron , which is broadly used in aeronautics, and particularly by the insignia of NASA . Star Trek Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry , which began with
1530-498: A new cast portraying the crew of the original show. Star Trek was a prequel of the original series set in an alternate timeline , later named the Kelvin Timeline. This gave the film and sequels freedom from the need to conform to the franchise's canonical timeline and minimized the impact these films would have on CBS's portion of the franchise. The eleventh Star Trek film's marketing campaign targeted non-fans, stating in
1632-549: A new set of fans to the franchise. CBS eventually sought to capitalize on this trend, and brought the franchise back to the small screen with the series Star Trek: Discovery to help launch and draw subscribers to its streaming service CBS All Access . Discovery's first season premiered on September 24, 2017. While Discovery is shown in the United States exclusively on Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access), for its first three seasons, Netflix, in exchange for funding
1734-558: A new starship Enterprise with a new crew. Following Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Roddenberry's role was changed from producer to creative consultant, with minimal input to the films, while being heavily involved with the creation of The Next Generation . Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, giving executive producer Rick Berman control of the franchise. Star Trek had become known to those within Paramount as "the franchise", because of its great success and recurring role as
1836-497: A pilot, " The Cage ", starring Jeffrey Hunter as Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike . NBC rejected "The Cage", but the executives were still impressed with the concept, and made the unusual decision to commission a second pilot: " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". While the show initially enjoyed high ratings, the average rating of the show at the end of its first season dropped to 52nd out of 94 programs. Unhappy with
1938-486: A prequel to the 2009 film, Star Trek: Countdown . In 2012, IDW published the first volume of Star Trek – The Newspaper Strip , featuring the work of Thomas Warkentin. As of 2020, IDW continues to produce new titles. The Star Trek franchise has numerous games in many formats. Beginning in 1967 with a board game based on the original series and continuing through today with online and DVD games, Star Trek games continue to be popular among fans. Video games based on
2040-400: A racially diverse crew. In early 1964, Roddenberry presented a brief treatment for a television series to Desilu Productions , calling it "a Wagon Train to the stars". Desilu studio head Lucille Ball was instrumental in approving production of the series. The studio worked with Roddenberry to develop the treatment into a script , which was then pitched to NBC. NBC paid to make
2142-536: A result of these successes, Starfleet engineers gained a reputation as the undisputed masters of technological adaptation and modification. As one minion of the Dominion in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, " Rocks and Shoals " notes, Starfleet engineers are reputed to be able to "Turn rocks into replicators." Additionally, Pocket Books has published a series of eBooks and novels in
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#17327872923332244-411: A sequel. The studio forced Roddenberry to relinquish creative control of future sequels. The success of the sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , reversed the fortunes of the franchise. While the sequel grossed less than the first movie, The Wrath of Khan ' s lower production costs made it net more profit. Paramount produced six Star Trek feature films between 1979 and 1991, each featuring
2346-420: A series of standalone mini-episodes which air between Discovery and Picard seasons. A new live-action series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , a spinoff of the second season of Discovery and prequel to the original series, premiered on May 5, 2022. Lower Decks , an animated adult comedy series, was released on August 6, 2020, on CBS All Access. Another animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy , premiered on
2448-711: A shipyard named Utopia Planitia in Mars orbit. Utopia Planitia served as Starfleet's main ship yards throughout a large portion of Starfleet's existence. After the Enterprise-D encountered the Borg in the episode " Q Who " the size of the Utopia Planitia shipyards was doubled out of fear of a Borg strike. They were once again doubled after the Dominion threat became more evident. A devastating attack on these shipyards
2550-416: A significant portion of the studio's operations. Voyager became the flagship show of the new United Paramount Network (UPN) and thus the first major network Star Trek series since the original. After Voyager ended, UPN produced Enterprise , a prequel series. Enterprise did not enjoy the high ratings of its predecessors and UPN threatened to cancel it after the series' third season. Fans launched
2652-590: A television film every two years starting with Section 31 . Many licensed products are based on the Star Trek franchise. Merchandising is very lucrative for both studio and actors; by 1986 Nimoy had earned more than $ 500,000 from royalties. Products include novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon . Star Trek merchandise generated $ 4 billion for Paramount by 2002. Since 1967, hundreds of original novels, short stories, and television and movie adaptations have been published. The first original Star Trek novel
2754-475: A vast interstellar alliance founded on the enlightened principles of liberty, equality, justice, progress, and peaceful co-existence, as an idealistic version of the United Nations . The optimistic view of the future present in the Federation has been highlighted as unique among most science fiction , showing how "evolved" and "civilized" the future could conceivably be. Much debate has centered on how
2856-608: Is Deep Space Nine , a station near a wormhole commanded by Benjamin Sisko after its transfer from the Cardassian Empire . Starfleet has been shown to handle scientific , defense , and diplomatic missions, although its primary mandate seems to be peaceful exploration in the search for sentient life, as seen in the mission statements of different incarnations of the USS Enterprise . The flagship of Starfleet
2958-542: Is a branch of Starfleet first introduced in the original Star Trek . Main characters in subsequent series have been security officers. Starfleet Tactical is a rarely mentioned department in Starfleet that is responsible for planning defensive strategies, as well as engaging in weapons research and development. Although Humans are the most-often-seen crew members onscreen, Starfleet is shown to be composed of individuals from over 150 species, with Vulcans perhaps being
3060-645: Is a major plot point in Star Trek: Picard . In the 2009 film , the Enterprise is shown under construction near James T. Kirk 's home in Iowa. In the 2013 sequel , Montgomery "Scotty" Scott discovers a covert Starfleet facility, near Jupiter, that has built a much larger Federation warship, USS Vengeance . The Starfleet Engineering Corps (also called the Starfleet Corps of Engineers )
3162-642: Is a multibillion-dollar industry, owned by Paramount Global. Gene Roddenberry sold Star Trek to NBC as a classic adventure drama; he pitched the show as " Wagon Train to the Stars" and as Horatio Hornblower in Space . The opening line, "to boldly go where no man has gone before", was taken almost verbatim from a U.S. White House booklet on space produced after the Sputnik flight in 1957. Star Trek and its spin-offs have proven highly popular in syndication and
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3264-451: Is also capable of considerable military might. Section 31 is a paramilitary espionage agency, described by writer Ira Steven Behr as "...doing the nasty stuff that no one wants to think about.". The Federation is depicted as a democratic republic, led by a President based in Paris on Earth. Presidential powers include issuing pardons and declaring states of emergency. This president
3366-410: Is credited in the scientific literature with inspiring the field of diatom nanotechnology . In 1976, following a letter-writing campaign, NASA named its prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise , after the fictional starship . Later, the introductory sequence to Star Trek: Enterprise included footage of this shuttle which, along with images of a naval sailing vessel called Enterprise , depicted
3468-453: Is described during this season, and after her return, as having been assigned to Starfleet Medical. Numerous star ship dedication plaques identify other personnel associated with Starfleet Operations . Rear Admiral James T. Kirk served 18 months as Starfleet's Chief of Operations. Starfleet Security is an agency of Starfleet referred to in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Security
3570-529: Is in pre-production to take the place of one of these series. Star Trek: Prodigy was removed from Paramount+ in June 2023. The series was picked up by Netflix, and season 1 was made available on December 25, 2023. A second season aired later in 2024. Paramount is also planning to create television films for Paramount+ every two years. The first of these movies, Section 31 , will star Michelle Yeoh , reprising her role as Empress Georgiou from Discovery . It
3672-835: Is mentioned in several episodes in conjunction with projects such as hollowing out the underground laboratory complex inside the Regula I asteroid in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , the design of the Yellowstone -class Runabout in the alternate timeline in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Non Sequitur ", and devising a defense against the Breen energy-dampening weapon in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " When It Rains... " As
3774-563: Is not a necessary pre-condition for joining Starfleet. T'Pol of Vulcan is shown to be the first non-human Starfleet officer, receiving a commission as a commander following the Xindi mission and her resignation from the Vulcan High Command. Even after the Federation's formation citizenship was not required; several officers are from planets that are not part of the Federation. For example, Star Trek: TNG ' s Ensign Ro Laren ,
3876-624: Is not required for admission, but is desirable. Most Starfleet personnel are Federation citizens. Non-citizens can join Starfleet, but the process is more difficult, as with all non-Federation races. The Federation's counterpart in the Mirror Universe is the Terran Empire, a human-dominated authoritarian state which has formed an empire by conquest. In the Short Treks episode "Calypso", taking place at an unknown time in
3978-448: Is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also notable for its progressive stances on civil rights . The Original Series included one of the first multiracial casts on US television. As early as 1964, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the science fiction series that would become Star Trek . Although he publicly marketed it as a Western in outer space —a so-called " Wagon Train to
4080-408: Is often considered to be the starship USS Enterprise . Starfleet has many components, including: As early as the original Star Trek , characters refer to attending Starfleet Academy . Later series establish it as an officer training facility with a four-year educational program. The main campus is located near Starfleet Headquarters in what is now Fort Baker , California. Starfleet Command
4182-573: Is said to have evolved into the NX Program, which led to Starfleet launching its first Warp 5–capable starship, Enterprise (NX-01) , in 2151, followed by Columbia (NX-02), in 2155, as well as other vessels. Starfleet acts under the Prime Directive , a policy of non-interference with pre-warp worlds, such as interference in their internal politics. This is said not to be a human construct, but stems from policies originally implemented by
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4284-491: Is scheduled to be released in early 2025. Twelve television series make up the Star Trek franchise: The Original Series , The Animated Series , The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager , Enterprise , Discovery , Short Treks , Picard , Lower Decks , Prodigy , and Strange New Worlds . All series in total amount to 937 episodes across 49 seasons of television. Paramount Pictures has produced thirteen Star Trek feature films. The first six films continue
4386-604: Is supported by a cabinet . The Federation also has a supreme court and a legislature, the Federation Council, with delegates from its various member worlds. A constitution and a charter have both been referred to as founding documents of the Federation. Several planets are shown to desire Federation membership. Joining the Federation is a complicated process, and requires meeting various criteria. Disqualifying criteria include caste -based discrimination and violations of sentient rights. A single, unified government
4488-400: Is the branch charged with overseeing legal matters within Starfleet. Several episodes revolve around or involve JAG officers and procedures: Dialog in "Court Martial" reveals that a court-martial may be convened in the absence of any JAG officers by three presiding command-level officers. Additionally, dialog in "The Measure of a Man" indicates that the loss of a starship automatically leads to
4590-763: Is the headquarters/command center of Starfleet. The term "Starfleet Command" is first used in TOS episode " Court Martial ". Its headquarters are depicted as being in Fort Baker, across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Overlooking the Command from the other side of the Golden Gate is the permanent site of the Council of
4692-517: The Star Wars franchise being rivals in the science fiction genre with many fans and scholars. The Star Trek franchise inspired some designers of technologies, the Palm PDA and the handheld mobile phone. Michael Jones, Chief technologist of Google Earth , has cited the tricorder 's mapping capability as one inspiration in the development of Keyhole/Google Earth. The Tricorder X Prize ,
4794-940: The Enterprise ' s operating authority, before the term "Starfleet" became widespread from the episode " Court Martial " onwards. However, references to the United Earth Space Probe Agency, and its abbreviation UESPA, are to be found in episodes of later series. For example, the Friendship One probe (launched, on the fictional timeline, in 2067) is marked with the letters UESPA-1 in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Friendship One ". Other background props included additional UESPA references, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picard 's family album in Star Trek Generations . During
4896-404: The Original Series cast in their original roles. In 1987, Paramount responded to the popularity of Star Trek feature films by bringing the franchise back to television with Star Trek: The Next Generation . Paramount chose to distribute the new series as a first-run syndication show rather than a network program. The series was set a century after the original, following the adventures of
4998-424: The Star Trek franchise 's central themes. The Federation is an organization of numerous planetary sovereignties, including Earth and Vulcan . The franchise focuses on Starfleet, the exploration and defense arm of the Federation, rather than the government. Viewers are rarely given details of the internal workings of the government; however, many episodes refer to the rules and laws that the Federation imposes on
5100-554: The Star Trek franchise beyond Discovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. Kurtzman wanted to "open this world up" and create multiple series set in the same universe but with their own "unique storytelling and distinct cinematic feel", an approach that he compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe . However, the franchise would not tell a single story across multiple series, allowing audiences to watch each series without having to see all of
5202-487: The Starfleet Corps of Engineers series. Starfleet Intelligence is an intelligence agency of the United Federation of Planets . It is entrusted with foreign and domestic espionage, counter-espionage, and state security. In the non-canon Star Trek: New Frontier novels the series main character Mackenzie Calhoun was once a Starfleet Intelligence operative. The Starfleet Judge Advocate General (or JAG )
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#17327872923335304-454: The Vulcans , who regarded an alien civilization's attainment of warp speed as the reason for making first contact with them. This was to avoid any unfortunate incidences during space travel, as well as avoiding interfering in the natural development of a civilization. The Prime Directive and Starfleet's first-contact policies are at the center of several episodes in each Star Trek series and
5406-451: The fictional universe of Star Trek , the United Federation of Planets ( UFP ) is the interstellar government with which, as part of its space force Starfleet , most of the characters and starships of the franchise are affiliated. Commonly referred to as " the Federation ", it was introduced in the original Star Trek television series . The survival, success, and growth of the Federation and its principles of freedom have become some of
5508-634: The materialist application of a post-scarcity economy in the Federation is incompatible with its own idealist ethics. It has been described, along with the series as a whole, as a vehicle to explore what it means to be human, as well as exploring mankind's efforts to build a better society. Other writers have noted that Star Trek ' s Federation has the same logistical and philosophical difficulties of other utopian economic and political schemes that make it seem unrealistic. However, Star Trek has brought up this idea of slavery or coerced service labor being necessary for its utopian society in " The Measure of
5610-450: The series of the same name and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon . Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films , television series , video games , novels , and comic books , and it has become one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time . The franchise began with Star Trek: The Original Series , which premiered on September 6, 1966, on Canada's CTV network. In
5712-448: The 1956 film Forbidden Planet , and television westerns such as Wagon Train . The Star Trek canon includes the Original Series , 11 spin-off television series, and a film franchise ; further adaptations also exist in several media. After the conclusion of the Original Series , the adventures of its characters continued in the 22-episode Star Trek: The Animated Series and six feature films. A television revival beginning in
5814-436: The 1980s saw four spinoff series: The Next Generation , following the crew of a new starship Enterprise a century after the original series; Deep Space Nine and Voyager , set in the same era as the Next Generation ; and Enterprise , set a century before the original series in the early days of human interstellar travel. The adventures of the Next Generation crew continued in four additional feature films. In 2009,
5916-524: The Federation (in 2373) as being made up of "over one hundred and fifty" planets, spread across 8,000 light-years. The Federation is a major galactic power, and at various times has been at war with other powers such as the Klingons , the Romulans and the Dominion . The Federation's space force is called Starfleet , and, although most of Star Trek depicts peaceful exploration of the galaxy, Starfleet
6018-493: The Federation had undergone a near-total collapse precipitated by "The Burn", a galaxy-wide disaster. This shrunk the Federation from a peak of 350 worlds to just 38, notably excluding both Earth and Ni'Var (formerly known as Vulcan). During the fourth season, the Federation is in the process of rebuilding itself; Starfleet Academy is reopened, new shipbuilding facilities are commissioned, and many former member worlds such as Trill, Ni'Var and Earth rejoin. In non- canon sources like
6120-409: The Federation, but viewers are never given a broad view of its inner workings. Many contemporary terms are assigned to the Federation, but parallels to current government bodies and their roles and responsibilities are pure speculation on the part of fans and critics. In the timeline of Star Trek , the Federation was founded in 2161, after the events of Star Trek: Enterprise but before those of
6222-575: The US it debuted on September 8, 1966, on NBC . The series followed the voyages of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise , a space exploration vessel built by the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century, on a mission "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before ". In creating Star Trek , Roddenberry was inspired by C. S. Forester 's Horatio Hornblower series of novels, Jonathan Swift 's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels ,
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#17327872923336324-461: The US space program , working in this quality for NASA from the late 1970s until the late 1980s. In 2020, the US effort to develop a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 was named Operation Warp Speed , which was suggested by a Star Trek fan, Peter Marks. Marks leads the unit at the Food and Drug Administration which approves vaccines and therapies. Federation Council (Star Trek) In
6426-680: The United Federation of Planets in what is now the Presidio of San Francisco . Throughout the Star Trek franchise, the main characters' isolation from Starfleet Command compels them to make and act upon decisions without Starfleet Command's orders or information, particularly in Voyager when the main protagonists have no means of contacting Earth for several years. StarTrek.com notes that many of Starfleet's ships are built on Mare Island near San Francisco. It states: The Enterprise-D and USS Voyager are depicted to have been constructed at
6528-405: The United Federation of Planets into the show. One of the first teleplays Coon was credited with was " A Taste of Armageddon ", where an ambassador on the Enterprise is referred to as a Federation official. Eventually, the series became an allegory for the current events of the 1960s counterculture , placing great emphasis on an anti-war message and depicting the United Federation of Planets,
6630-487: The actualization of Star Trek's holodeck in the future by making extensive use of artificial intelligence and cyborgs. Star Trek -based comics have been issued almost continuously since 1967, published by Marvel , DC , Malibu , Wildstorm , and Gold Key , among others. In 2009, Tokyopop produced an anthology of Next Generation -based stories presented in the style of Japanese manga . In 2006, IDW Publishing secured publishing rights to Star Trek comics and issued
6732-485: The advancement of human transportation technology. Beyond Star Trek 's fictional innovations, its contributions to television history included a multicultural and multiracial cast. While more common in subsequent years, in the 1960s it was controversial to feature an Enterprise crew that included a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, and a black female communications officer. Captain Kirk's and Lt. Uhura's kiss, in
6834-528: The adventures of the cast of the Original Series ; the seventh film, Generations , was intended as a transition from original cast to the cast of the Next Generation ; the next three films focused completely on the Next Generation cast. The eleventh film was widely considered to be a reboot of the franchise, despite being a continuation set in an alternate timeline known as the "Kelvin Timeline". Additionally, streaming service Paramount+ intends to release
6936-475: The box office. CBS turned down several proposals in the mid-2000s to restart the franchise on the small screen. Proposals included pitches from film director Bryan Singer , Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski , and Trek actors Jonathan Frakes and William Shatner. While CBS was not creating new Star Trek for network television, the ease of access to Star Trek content on new streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video introduced
7038-494: The characters and their adventures. Early in the first season of Star Trek , Captain Kirk had said the Enterprise ' s authority came from the United Earth Space Probe Agency. Bases visited in the series were labeled "Earth Outposts". In August 1966, Gene L. Coon was hired by Gene Roddenberry as a writer for Star Trek . Actor William Shatner credits Coon with injecting the concepts of Starfleet , Starfleet Command and
7140-442: The conflicts and political dimensions of Star Trek are allegories of contemporary cultural realities. The Original Series addressed issues of the 1960s, just as later spin-offs have tackled issues of their respective decades. Issues depicted in the various series include war and peace, the value of personal loyalty, authoritarianism , imperialism , class warfare, economics, racism, religion, human rights, sexism , feminism, and
7242-443: The distant future, the character of Craft refers to the "V'draysh". Little is said about the V'draysh, except that it is at war with Alcor IV, and that the V'draysh people are searching for artifacts from ancient human history. The writer of this episode, Michael Chabon , stated that the name "V'draysh" is intended to be a syncope for the word "Federation". In the 32nd century setting of the third season of Star Trek: Discovery ,
7344-405: The episode " Plato's Stepchildren ", was also daring, and is often mis-cited as being American television's first scripted, interracial kiss, even though several other interracial kisses ( e.g. on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ) predated this one. Nichelle Nichols, who played the communications officer, said that the day after she told Roddenberry of her plan to leave the series, she was told
7446-502: The film Star Trek: First Contact . Starfleet Headquarters is shown to be located on Earth , northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge in the present-day Fort Baker area. Starfleet Academy is located in the same general area. Additionally, various episodes show Starfleet operating a series of starbases throughout Federation territory, as ground facilities, or as space stations in planetary orbit or in deep space. One example
7548-486: The film did not earn as much in the North American box office as its predecessor, internationally, in terms of box office receipts, Into Darkness is the most successful of the franchise. The thirteenth film, Star Trek Beyond , was released on July 22, 2016. The film had many pre-production problems and its script went through several rewrites. While receiving positive reviews, Star Trek Beyond disappointed in
7650-486: The film franchise underwent a reboot , creating an alternate continuity known as the Kelvin timeline; three films have been set in this continuity. The newest Star Trek television revival, beginning in 2017, includes the series Discovery , Picard , Short Treks , Lower Decks , Prodigy , and Strange New Worlds , streaming on digital platforms. Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for decades. Fans of
7752-425: The film's advertisements that "this is not your father's Star Trek ". The film earned considerable critical and financial success, grossing (in inflation-adjusted dollars) more box office sales than any previous Star Trek film. The plaudits include the franchise's first Academy Award (for makeup ). Two sequels were released. The first sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness , premiered in the spring of 2013. While
7854-530: The franchise are called " Trekkies " or "Trekkers". The franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games , figurines, novels , toys, and comics . From 1998 to 2008, there was a Star Trek –themed attraction in Las Vegas . At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world. The constructed language Klingon was created for the franchise. Several Star Trek parodies have been made, and viewers have produced several fan productions . Star Trek
7956-484: The future of the franchise. Paramount relieved Berman, the franchise producer, of control of Star Trek . In 2007, Paramount hired a new creative team to reinvigorate the franchise on the big screen. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and producer J. J. Abrams had the freedom to reinvent the feel of the franchise. The team created the franchise's eleventh film, Star Trek , releasing it in May 2009. The film featured
8058-415: The idea of reviving the franchise. Filmation with Paramount Television produced the first post–original series show, Star Trek: The Animated Series , featuring the cast of the original series reprising their roles. It ran on NBC for 22 half-hour episodes over two seasons on Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1974. Although short-lived, typical for animated productions in that time slot during that period,
8160-666: The most common aliens seen. Already in TOS , the USS Enterprise and other ships have a mixed-species crew, although this does not appear to be an absolute rule; for instance, the episode " The Immunity Syndrome " refers to the USS Intrepid as having an all-Vulcan crew. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Take Me Out to the Holosuite " also features such a crew, serving aboard the USS T'Kumbra . In keeping with this idea, Star Trek: Enterprise , in its first two seasons,
8262-592: The original 1975 Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual , Johnson's Worlds of the Federation , and roleplaying games, the Federation's five founding members were Earth (or Terra), Vulcan, Tellar, Andor, and Alpha Centauri . Some non-canon works assert that founding member Alpha Centauri is home to a human race (transplanted by the Preservers from classical third-century BC Greece) known as, variously, Centaurans, Centaurians, or Centauri. The 1980-to-2188 historical guide Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology posits
8364-489: The other series in the franchise. Its founding members were Earth , Vulcan , Andoria , and Tellar . Over time it has expanded to include many more worlds through peaceful voluntary association. Some notable ones include Trill, Betazed, and Bolarus IX. References to the size of the Federation vary, with Captain Kirk stating in 2267 that humanity was on "a thousand planets and spreading out", while Captain Picard referred to
8466-612: The others. CBS and Kurtzman refer to this expanded franchise as the Star Trek Universe . The second series of the expansion of the Star Trek Universe, Star Trek: Picard , features Patrick Stewart reprising the character Jean-Luc Picard from The Next Generation . Picard premiered on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020. Unlike Discovery , Amazon Prime Video streams Picard internationally. CBS has also released two seasons of Star Trek: Short Treks ,
8568-540: The past, most specifically by ending violence. An extreme example is the alien species known as the Vulcans , who had a violent past but learned to control their emotions. Roddenberry also gave Star Trek an anti-war message and depicted the United Federation of Planets as an ideal, optimistic version of the United Nations. His efforts were opposed by the network because of concerns over marketability, e.g., they opposed Roddenberry's insistence that Enterprise have
8670-599: The process imagined by the writers is given when the character Nog attempts to apply to the Academy. He is told that since he is from a non-member world (Ferenginar), he requires a letter of recommendation from a command-level officer before his application can be considered, with the implication that this is the standard procedure for all non-Federation applicants to Starfleet. In the Star Trek Expanded Universe, an example of what typically becomes of
8772-487: The production costs of the show, owned the international screening rights for the show. This Netflix distribution and production deal ended right before the fourth season premiere of Discovery in November 2021. Discovery has since been exclusive to Paramount Global owned platforms. In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of Discovery , Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand
8874-411: The production of Star Trek: Enterprise , some larger Starfleet insignia designs included the name "United Earth Space Probe Agency". Multiple Star Trek: Enterprise episodes refer to Starfleet having started operation some time between 2112 and 2136, when it funded research begun by Zefram Cochrane and Henry Archer, which led to the first successful flight of Warp-3 vessels in the 2140s. This research
8976-557: The rebranded service Paramount+ first on October 28, 2021, and on December 17, 2021, on Nickelodeon . Prodigy is the first Star Trek series to specifically target younger audiences, and is the franchise's first fully computer animated series. Star Trek saturation would hit a new peak in 2022, with five Star Trek series airing in the same year. The Star Trek: Picard series finale aired in April 2023. Discovery's series finale aired in May 2024. A Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series
9078-473: The role of technology. Roddenberry stated: "[By creating] a new world with new rules, I could make statements about sex, religion, Vietnam , politics, and intercontinental missiles. Indeed, we did make them on Star Trek : we were sending messages and fortunately they all got by the network. If you talked about purple people on a far off planet, they (the television network) never really caught on. They were more concerned about cleavage. They actually would send
9180-405: The series and tried to raise $ 30 million to privately finance a fifth season of Enterprise . Though the effort garnered considerable press, the fan drive failed to save the series. The cancellation of Enterprise ended an eighteen-year continuous production run of Star Trek programming on television. The poor box office performance in 2002 of the film Nemesis cast an uncertain light upon
9282-463: The series garnered the franchise's only Emmy Award in a "Best Series" category—specifically Outstanding Entertainment Children's Series ; later Emmy awards for the franchise would be in technical categories. Paramount Pictures and Roddenberry began developing a new series, Star Trek: Phase II , in May 1975 in response to the franchise's newfound popularity. Work on the series ended when the proposed Paramount Television Service folded. Following
9384-435: The series include Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Conquest . An MMORPG based on Star Trek called Star Trek Online was developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World . It is set during the Next Generation era, about 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis . The most recent video game was set in the alternate timeline from Abrams's Star Trek . On April 23, 2023, Star Trek: Resurgence ,
9486-414: The series.] I never got to tell him why, because he said, 'You can't. You're part of history.' After the show, Nichols used this public standing to speak for women and people of color and against their exclusion from the US human space program; NASA reacted by asking her to find people for its future Space Shuttle program. Nichols proceeded and successfully brought the first non-white people and women into
9588-506: The show's ratings, NBC threatened to cancel the show during its second season. The show's fan base , led by Bjo Trimble , conducted an unprecedented letter-writing campaign, petitioning the network to keep the show on the air. NBC renewed the show, but moved it from primetime to the " Friday night death slot ", and substantially reduced its budget. In protest, Roddenberry resigned as producer and reduced his direct involvement in Star Trek , which led to Fred Freiberger becoming producer for
9690-475: The show's third and final season. Despite another letter-writing campaign, NBC canceled the series after three seasons and 79 episodes. After the original series was canceled, Desilu, which by then had been renamed Paramount Television , licensed the broadcast syndication rights to help recoup the production losses. Reruns began in late 1969, and by the late 1970s the series aired in over 150 domestic and 60 international markets. This helped Star Trek develop
9792-560: The stars"—he privately told friends that he was modeling it on Jonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels , intending each episode to act on two levels: as a suspenseful adventure story and as a morality tale. Most Star Trek stories depict the adventures of humans and aliens who serve in Starfleet , the space-borne humanitarian and peacekeeping armada of the United Federation of Planets . The protagonists have altruistic values, and must apply these ideals to difficult dilemmas. Many of
9894-522: The success of the science fiction movies Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Paramount adapted the planned pilot episode of Phase II into the feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The film opened in North America on December 7, 1979, with mixed reviews from critics. The film earned $ 139 million worldwide, below expectations but enough for Paramount to create
9996-512: The television series have also written or co-written books featuring their respective characters: William Shatner , John de Lancie , Andrew J. Robinson , J. G. Hertzler and Armin Shimerman . Voyager producer Jeri Taylor wrote two novels detailing the personal histories of Voyager characters. Screenplay writers David Gerrold , D. C. Fontana , and Melinda Snodgrass have also penned books. A 2014 scholarly work Newton Lee discussed
10098-480: Was Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds , which was published in hardcover by Whitman Books in 1968. In 1968, Gene Roddenberry cooperated with Stephen Edward Poe, writing as Stephen Whitfield, on the nonfiction book The Making of Star Trek for Ballantine Books . Among the most recent is the Star Trek Collection of Little Golden Books . Three titles were published by Random House in 2019,
10200-578: Was a magazine published in the U.S. that ceased publication in 2003. Star Trek Magazine , originally published as Star Trek Monthly by Titan Magazines for the United Kingdom market, began in February 1995. The magazine has since expanded to worldwide distribution under the name Star Trek Explorer . Other magazines through the years included professional, as well as magazines published by fans, or fanzines . The Star Trek media franchise
10302-433: Was broadcast worldwide. The show's cultural impact goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. Star Trek conventions have become popular among its fans, who call themselves " trekkies " or "trekkers". An entire subculture has grown up around the franchise, which was documented in the film Trekkies . Star Trek was ranked most popular cult show by TV Guide . The franchise has also garnered many comparisons of
10404-670: Was the only show to have an entirely human crew, as it was set before the formation of the Federation , although the vessel did carry Phlox , a Denobulan serving in a medical exchange program, and T'Pol , then serving as an observer from the Vulcan High Command. Star Trek: The Next Generation saw the introduction of Starfleet's first Klingon officer. Other races—such as Bolians, Betazoids, and Trill—were seen, and given more central roles, in later series; some of these, notably Klingons, had been shown as enemies in earlier episodes. Various episodes show that Earth /Federation citizenship
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