Star Trek timeline: Boldly go on a chronological journey through the Trek universe

Richard Edwards

April 13, 2022 at 1:34 AM·21 min read

The Star Trek timeline now spans billions of years and it's growing all the time. And even though Star Trek: Discovery makes its final voyage on May 30, that expansion is set to continue with upcoming new seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks. This franchise has come a long way since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry sent Kirk, Spock, and co. on their original five-year mission in the ’60s.

But with hundreds of hours of missions spread across 11 TV shows and 13 movies, knowing where to begin with the Star Trek timeline can be something of a challenge. With that in mind, we’ve assembled the key events that shaped Federation history into one massive chronology, featuring moments from The Original Series, The Next Generation, and its spin-offs, as well as all of the films and the TV shows of Trek's 2017 comeback – including Discovery and Star Trek: Picard.

We’ve even included the parallel "Kelvin" continuity of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and its sequels, an alternative sequence of events kickstarted when a rogue Romulan ship from the future destroyed the USS Kelvin – killing James T. Kirk’s dad, George, and forever altering Kirk and Spock’s destinies.

That said, because the numerous spin-off Trek comics and novels aren’t traditionally considered part of the official Star Trek timeline, we’ve left them out. We’ve also steered clear of the long-running Mirror Universe (y'know, the one where evil Spock has a goatee), so there isn’t too much timey-wimey stuff going on that you’d have to be Data to understand it.

But before we engage the warp drive and explore the history of the future, here’s an at-a-glance guide to how the various movies and TV shows fit into the Star Trek timeline. And beware – spoilers ahead!

Star Trek timeline

Around 4.5 billion years ago - A species later dubbed "the Progenitors" seed numerous planets with their DNA, influencing the evolution of humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Vulcans, Romulans, and others. This explains why so many Star Trek aliens can be played by actors in prosthetics. (The Chase, Star Trek: The Next Generation; Star Trek: Discovery season 5)

Hundreds of thousands of years ago - A mysterious alien probe – known universally as the Sphere – starts gathering detailed information about the galaxy. Thousands of years later, the USS Discovery will travel to the distant future to protect its secrets. (Star Trek: Discovery season 2)

Around 200,000 years ago - An ancient alien species is wiped out by an uprising of synthetic beings. They leave eight stars in an implausible arrangement, the Conclave of Eight, to serve as a warning to future generations. (Star Trek: Picard season 1)

1893 - The time-travelling crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounters The Adventures of Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain in San Francisco. (Time’s Arrow, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

1930 - Having been sent back to 20th century New York by a malevolent portal known as the Guardian of Forever, James T. Kirk is forced to allow peace campaigner Edith Keeler to die in order to save millions of lives in World War 2. (The City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek: The Original Series)

1947 - Ferengi Quark, Rom, and Nog crash land in 20th century Roswell, New Mexico, and are captured by US authorities who (correctly, to be fair) think they’re aliens. (Little Green Men, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

1986 - Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the original Enterprise crew travel back in time to kidnap a pair of humpback whales who can save the future from an alien probe. (Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home)

1996 - Genetically enhanced tyrant Khan Noonien Singh and 84 of his followers escape the Eugenics Wars on Earth (remember those?), going into suspended animation on the SS Botany Bay. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

~2022/23 - Enterprise security officer La'an Noonien Singh arrives in 21st century Toronto alongside a parallel universe version of James T. Kirk. With a Romulan time traveller out to change history by preventing the Eugenics Wars (which haven't yet happened in this adjusted timeline), she rescues a young boy named Khan from the Noonien-Singh Institute for Cultural Advancement. (Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

2024 – Picard and La Sirena's crew arrive in the 21st century to fix the event that's created a dystopian alternative timeline. Along the way they meet a younger version of Guinan (who already owns her bar at 10 Forward Avenue) and an ancient ancestor of Data's creator – another of Brent Spiner's many Star Trek roles. (Star Trek: Picard season 2)

2063 - In the wake of World War 3, Zefram Cochrane makes Earth’s first successful warp flight, attracting the attention of some passing Vulcans who subsequently introduce Earth into the interstellar community – all while the crew of the Enterprise-E fight to stop the Borg assimilating the planet. (Star Trek: First Contact)

2151 - Suliban fighting in a Temporal Cold War shoot down Klingon warrior Klaang over Broken Bow, Oklahoma – bringing about humanity’s first contact with a Klingon. The prototype USS Enterprise (NX-01) sets off on a mission to return him to Qo’noS – against the wishes of the Vulcans and their massive superiority complex. (Broken Bow, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2153 - A group of Borg who survived the attempted invasion of Earth in 2063 are accidentally thawed by a research team in the Arctic. It doesn’t end well. (Regeneration, Star Trek: Enterprise)

An alien probe fires a massive energy beam at Earth’s surface, causing destruction across the American continent. The Enterprise is redeployed to the Delphic Expanse to fight back against the perpetrators, the Xindi. (The Expanse, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2164 - The USS Franklin, commanded by Captain Balthazar Edison, goes missing – that might just prove important later… (Star Trek Beyond)

2230 - Spock is born on Vulcan.

2233 - James T. Kirk is born. He's from Iowa – he only works in outer space.

2233 (Kelvin timeline) - First officer George Kirk (father of James T.) sacrifices himself to save his crewmates when the USS Kelvin is destroyed by time-travelling 24th century Romulan ship the Narada, kickstarting the so-called "Kelvin" timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

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2230s (exact date unknown) - After her parents are killed in a Klingon attack, Michael Burnham is adopted by Sarek and Amanda Grayson on Vulcan. Her adoptive brother, Spock, has his first sighting of a “Red Angel”. (Will You Take My Hand?, Star Trek: Discovery)

2254 - The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, discovers the survivors of crashed survey ship SS Columbia on Talos IV – though it turns out they’re an illusion created by the telepathic Talosians. (Star Trek: The Cage)

2256 - The USS Shenzou’s first officer, Commander Michael Burnham, defies the orders of Captain Philippa Georgiou by attacking a Klingon vessel, and is charged with mutiny. The Federation/Klingon War begins at the Battle of the Binary Stars. (The Vulcan Hello/The Battle at the Binary Stars, Star Trek: Discovery)

2257 - The Federation/Klingon War ends, with the hydro bomb Section 31 plant at the heart of Qo’noS helping maintain peace between feuding Klingon houses. (Will You Take My Hand, Star Trek: Discovery)

With the Enterprise under repair, Christopher Pike assumes command of the Discovery on a mission to understand the so-called “Red Angels” – and track down his AWOL science officer, Spock. (Brother, Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 - In order to save all life in the universe from a rogue Federation AI known as Control, Michael Burnham uses the Red Angel time travel suit (created by her parents) to carry data collected by a millennia-old alien probe into the future. The USS Discovery and its crew follow her on a one-way trip through the wormhole. (Such Sweet Sorrow, Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 (Kelvin timeline) - The Narada reappears and destroys Vulcan, as an act of revenge on Spock. The Enterprise (commanded by Christopher Pike) engages the Romulan ship, but with Pike incapacitated, James T. Kirk eventually assumes command of the ship – and defeats the Narada. (Star Trek, 2009)

(Kelvin timeline) In the wake of Vulcan’s destruction, Admiral Alexander Marcus tries to increase Starfleet’s military capabilities – and subsequently discovers 20th century vessel the SS Botany Bay years earlier than in the Prime timeline. Khan Noonien Singh is revived and recruited by the Federation's shadowy spy branch, Section 31. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2259 – Commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, the USS Enterprise boldly goes where no one has gone before – aside from all the Star Trek crews who came before. Pike and his team also meet a pair of animated Starfleet officers from the future, spend an entire episode singing and dancing (Subspace Rhapsody), and survive several scary encounters with the reptilian Gorn. They also encounter the cocky young first officer of the USS Farragut – a guy who goes by the name of James T. Kirk. (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seasons 1 and 2)

2259 (Kelvin timeline) - Going under the pseudonym John Harrison, Khan wages a one-man war on the Federation – all in the name of recovering his crew from suspended animation. The Enterprise crew eventually defeat him and put him back into stasis, but Kirk dies in the process. Luckily Dr. McCoy is able to use some of Khan’s blood to revive his captain – phew! (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2260 (Kelvin timeline) - The USS Enterprise begins its (other) famous five-year mission. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2263 (Kelvin timeline) - Three years into the five-year mission (with things starting to get boring), the Enterprise is destroyed by Krall’s swarm ships, marooning the crew on an alien planet. It turns out Krall was the captain of the aforementioned USS Franklin, who’s spent the last century using alien tech to keep himself alive – and developing a colossal grudge against the Federation. He’s eventually killed on new Federation starbase, the USS Yorktown. James T. Kirk and crew are assigned to a new ship, the Enterprise-A. The original Spock Prime – the one who travelled back in time – passes away on New Vulcan (Star Trek Beyond).

2266 - The USS Enterprise’s five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilisations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before, begins under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. (Star Trek: The Original Series)

2267 - After Spock mutinies, Christopher Pike (gravely injured by a radiation leak a year earlier) is taken to the off-limits Talos 4, where the illusions of the telepathic Talosians allow him to live an active life. (The Menagerie, Star Trek: The Original Series)

The Enterprise discovers SS Botany Bay, and awakens Khan Noonien Singh from suspended animation. After he tries to take over the ship, Khan and his crew are exiled to Ceti Alpha 5. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

Early 2270s (exact year unknown) - The refitted USS Enterprise (commanded once again by Admiral James T. Kirk) encounters V’Ger, a 20th century space probe (Voyager 6 under an alias) that has gained sentience and threatens to destroy planet Earth. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

2285 - While on a training mission, the USS Enterprise is critically damaged by Khan Noonien Singh, who has escaped exile on Ceti Alpha V and seeks revenge on Kirk. The Genesis planet is created by detonation of the top secret Genesis torpedo, and Spock dies after sacrificing himself to save the Enterprise. (Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan)

Kirk, McCoy, and the rest of the surviving Enterprise crew defy Starfleet orders to commandeer the ship for a mission to the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body. After they unexpectedly encounter a hostile Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Kirk self-destructs the Enterprise – but Spock is resurrected. (Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock)

2286 - A mysterious space probe appears in Earth's orbit, attempting to make contact with now-extinct humpback whales. Kirk and co. pilot their commandeered Bird-of-Prey back to 20th century Earth to find some whales. Admiral Kirk is demoted to captain as punishment for his insurrection, and the USS Enterprise-A goes into active service. (Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home)

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2287 - The new Enterprise is commandeered by Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, who plans to meet God (yes, really) at the centre of the galaxy. The question “What does God need with a starship?” has never felt so pertinent. (Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier)

2290 - Hikaru Sulu assumes command of the USS Excelsior, breaking up the Enterprise “dream team” – it was probably about time, to be fair... (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country)

2293 - Praxis, the Klingon moon responsible for most of the empire’s power production, explodes. With Kirk and the classic crew due for retirement, they set off on one last mission to escort the Klingon ambassador to peace negotiations with the Federation – and end up having to foil a complex plot to scupper the whole thing. (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country)

Captain James T. Kirk is presumed dead when the Nexus energy ribbon has a close encounter with the newly launched Enterprise-B. Predictably, however, it’s not the end… (Star Trek: Generations)

2330s (exact year unknown) - Data is created by pioneering scientist Dr Noonian Soong. (Datalore, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2344 - The USS Enterprise-C answers a distress call from a Klingon outpost on Narendra III. Surrounded by Romulan Warbirds, it faces certain destruction until it disappears into a mysterious temporal rift… (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2356 - Future Seven of Nine Annika Hansen is assimilated by the Borg – along with her scientist parents – on their ship, The Raven. (The Raven, Star Trek: Voyager)

2364 - Commander William T. Riker joins the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. Omnipotent being Q appears and puts humanity on trial. (Encounter At Farpoint, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2365 - Q shows up again, and transports the Enterprise to uncharted space for Starfleet’s first encounter with the Borg. (Q Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2366 - The Enterprise-C emerges from that aforementioned temporal rift and creates a new timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingons. (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

The Borg show up in Federation space to start an invasion. Jean-Luc Picard is assimilated, becoming Locutus, and Starfleet is almost wiped out at the Battle of Wolf 359. (The Best of Both Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2368 - Now an ambassador, Spock turns up on Romulus trying to reunify the Vulcan and Romulan races. (Unification, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2369 - The Cardassians cease their occupation of Bajor and vacate their space station, Terok Nor. Starfleet moves in and renames it Deep Space Nine, with Benjamin Sisko taking command. It looks like it's going to be a relatively straightforward gig – until a wormhole opens to the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. (Emissary, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2370 - Starfleet makes first contact with the Dominion, an alliance of races led by shapeshifting Founders from the Gamma Quadrant. (The Search, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2371 - It turns out James T. Kirk wasn’t dead after all – he was just living inside the Nexus energy ribbon, a place where all your dreams come true. When El-Aurian scientist Dr Tolian Soran threatens to destroy entire worlds to get back inside the Nexus, Jean-Luc Picard enlists Kirk’s help to stop him – which doesn’t end well for Kirk, who ends up dead for the final time. The Enterprise-D also crashes on the surface of Veridian III, though it won't be the last we see of the ship... (Star Trek: Generations)

USS Voyager (under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway) and a ship of Maquis freedom fighters are transported to the distant Delta Quadrant by an alien “caretaker”. The two crews become BFFs implausibly quickly – and for some reason, invite Neelix on board. (Caretaker, Star Trek: Voyager)

2373 - The Borg have another crack at invading Earth. Seemingly defeated, they launch a last ditch attempt to assimilate humanity in the past – so Jean-Luc Picard and crew take their shiny new Enterprise-E back in time to stop them. It's our first introduction to the Borg Queen, who does her best to seduce Data. She succeeds for approximately 0.68 seconds. "For an android," he says, "that is nearly an eternity." (Star Trek: First Contact)

Meanwhile, back in the Borg’s home territory of the Delta Quadrant, Voyager forms an unlikely alliance with the Collective to battle Species 8472 from “fluidic space”. Borg drone Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 (AKA, Seven of Nine) joins the Voyager crew. (Scorpion, Star Trek: Voyager)

The Dominion War kicks off between the Dominion (led by the Changelings) and the Federation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2375 - The Dominion War ends. Benjamin Sisko, the Bajoran “emissary”, relocates to the wormhole to commune with its residents – aliens who have no sense of linear time. (What You Leave Behind, Deep Space Nine)

The Enterprise-E crew uncovers a shady Federation plot to relocate the near-immortal inhabitants of a paradise planet, in order to harness its youth-giving properties. It’s difficult to care about any of it. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

2378 - USS Voyager finally makes it back to Federation space, after a future version of Janeway uses a lethal pathogen to wipe out many of the Borg. Following seven years of exemplary service, Ensign Harry Kim is still an Ensign. (Endgame, Star Trek: Voyager)

2379 - Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard, takes control of the Romulan senate – and his overtures towards peace with the Federation turn out to be a front for war. The Enterprise eventually stops him, but Data has to sacrifice himself to save the day. (Star Trek: Nemesis)

2380 - The USS Cerritos, under the command of Captain Carol Freeman, continues to specialise in “Second Contact” situations. (Star Trek: Lower Decks)

2381 - A pair of USS Cerritos crew members, Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler, are transported back to Pike's Enterprise for some unashamed fan worship. (Those Old Scientists, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

2383 - A ragtag group of alien kids stumbles on the abandoned USS Protostar in the Delta Quadrant. Their guide? A holographic version of Kathryn Janeway. (Star Trek: Prodigy)

2385 - Members of the Romulan Zhat Vash experience the Admonition on the “grief world” of Aia, driving many to madness and suicide. Their leader, Commodore Oh, instigates the uprising of synthetic workers at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars, leaving 92,143 people dead and the planet burning. Facing heavy losses, Starfleet abandons its rescue mission to help rescue the residents of Romulus from an upcoming supernova. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard resigns in protest. (Star Trek: Picard season 1)

2387 - With a supernova threatening to destroy Romulus, Spock – still active after all these years, remarkably – attempts to save the planet by using “red matter” to create a black hole that will engulf the exploding star. He fails – and he, and Romulan ship the Narada, are sucked into the black hole and back in time, creating the new, parallel "Kelvin" timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

2390 - Starfleet vessel the Ibn Majid encounters a pair of synthetic lifeforms. Under orders from Commodore Oh, the captain executes the two androids before taking his own life. First Officer Chris Rios is so traumatised by the experience – expunged from Federation records – that he leaves Starfleet six months later. (Broken Pieces, Star Trek: Picard)

2399 - Having discovered that the late Data had a pair of ridiculously advanced twin daughters, the long-retired Jean-Luc Picard ventures back into space after years on the family vineyard. After some close encounters with rogue Romulans, militant AI, and a few Borg, Picard succumbs to his terminal Irumodic Syndrome – but is reborn in a new android body. (Star Trek: Picard season 1)

2400 - Now running Starfleet Academy, Picard once again finds himself back on a starship when a spatial anomaly appears, broadcasting his name in multiple languages. After ending up in a totalitarian alternative timeline – possibly with a bit of help from Q – he gathers up the crew of La Sirena to travel back to a pivotal event in 2024. A severely weakened Q later dies sending Picard and co back to their own time. Or does he...? (Star Trek: Picard season 2)

2401 - Jean-Luc Picard learns that he and long-term love interest Beverly Crusher have a son. They join forces with the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D (now resurrected by Geordi La Forge) to combat a new Changeling threat to the Federation. It later turns out that Jack is part-Borg, and that the Borg Queen (severely damaged by the pathogen in the Star Trek: Voyager finale) has been pulling the strings all along. (Star Trek: Picard season 3)

2402 - Jack Crusher, now an Ensign in Starfleet, is assigned to the USS Enterprise-G, commanded by Seven of Nine. Q – not so dead after all – appears in Jack's quarters, telling him that humanity's trial continues... (The Last Generation, Star Trek: Picard)

3069 - The so-called Burn causes the cataclysmic destruction of dilithium across the galaxy, massively curtailing warp travel across the Alpha Quadrant. (Star Trek: Discovery season 3)

The Federation is involved in a Temporal War that leads to a galaxy-wide ban on time travel. During this period, Temporal Agent Daniels travels back to 2151 to infiltrate Captain Archer's Enterprise, and overthrow a Suliban plot. (Star Trek: Enterprise; Star Trek: Discovery)

3188 - Michael Burnham emerges from the wormhole, and joins forces with courier Cleveland 'Book' Booker. (Star Trek: Discovery season 3)

3189 - Discovery arrives in the 32nd century and discovers a universe where the Federation has been decimated by the Burn, and the biggest power in the Alpha Quadrant is now the Emerald Chain criminal syndicate. With the spore drive now one of the most important resources in the galaxy, Captain Saru and crew work to discover the cause of the Burn – and restore the Federation to past glories. (Star Trek: Discovery season 3)

3190 - As numerous worlds sign up to rejoin the resurgent Federation, a mysterious Dark Matter Anomaly destroys Book's homeworld and threatens all life in the Alpha Quadrant. Now (somewhat belatedly) captaining the Discovery, Michael Burnham leads the Federation's defences. (Star Trek: Discovery season 4)

3191 - The Discovery sets off on an interstellar treasure hunt to find the Progenitor technology that kickstarted all humanoid evolution in the galaxy billions of years ago. There are other interested parties, however, and Starfleet ends up going head-to-head with the Breen, mysterious former allies of the Dominion. After tracking down the tech, Captain Burnham decides to throw it into the event horizon of a black hole so that no one else can use it, reasoning that the Progenitors' legacy lives on through the existing species of the Alpha Quadrant. Dr Kovich admits he's actually aforementioned temporal agent Daniels. (Star Trek: Discovery season 5)

~3220 - Zora, the sentient AI controlling Discovery, departs for her final mission, following a top-secret directive to travel to pre-assigned co-ordinates – and wait. All she knows is that 'craft' – whatever or whoever that is – will be involved somehow. (Life, Itself, Star Trek: Discovery)

~4200 - Zora is still waiting. She runs into a soldier from Alcor IV named Craft, and the pair form a close friendship as she introduces him to Taco Tuesdays and classic movies. (Calypso, Short Trek)

All caught up? Great, now come and discover the best Star Trek episodes that every Trekkie should watch right now, or watch the video below for a complete guide to the Star Wars timeline – that other sci-fi galaxy far, far, away...

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Star Trek timeline: Boldly go on a chronological journey through the Trek universe

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