So, it's the middle 22nd Century and Earth's technology is to the point where an honest to god Starfleet is a possibility....and YOU are put in charge! What kinds of ships do you need? How many? How many at first? How much will you rely on civilian contracting? I guess I'm looking for the logistics of making Earth Starfleet a reality. And I'm hoping to see some ideas that seem plausible by themselves. Not necessarily slavish adherence to established canon. For example, what if the Vulcans weren't really involved at all? I'm thinking of a United Earth with Star Trek flavor technology facing Star Trek style threats. Thoughts? --Alex
I suppose there are two ways of looking at this... one being STAR TREK in-universe, the other derived from the TREK universe (a parallel universe?) using TREK as a kind of template or guide... STAR TREK (in-universe) Pardon my delving into canon, but ENT did provide some useful clues: Capt. Archer was central to a diplomatic initiative that resulted in the temporary formation of a Coalition of Planets prior to the escalation in hostilities that became the Earth-Romulan Conflict; this would've been in the later half of the 2150s. (2154 + 4th season = 2158?) Earth Starfleet seemed to be part of the core group that coordinated this coalition at that time. The discussion started in ENT's "United" and continued through "Terra Prime". It was even mentioned roundly in "These Are the Voyages..." that Archer's spearheading of the Earth initiative to continue the Coalition would quickly morph into the Federation. So it would seem all the pieces are already there. So obviously Earth Starfleet was no only instrumental in the ass-backwards reorganization of the Coalition of Planets into the Federation, but also in founding the Federation Starfleet as well. In "These Are the Voyages", Tripp and Archer toast to Warp 7, a hint at the first-generation of Federation starships with a new generation of warp propulsion. I see the early Federation Starfleet coalescing around a few key concepts: (1: basic diplomatic and administrative organization; probably derived from the Coalition's wartime effort; (2: drafting a basic statement of mission from which all fleet tasks and regulations would be derived, like a Constitution of sorts that would guide civilian control of Starfleet Command; (3: those interested Coalition/Federation partners would draft a technological template for new Warp 7 starships, Federation starbases, shipping services, telecommunications, etc.; and (4: finding a way for different species to work together, both in terms of facilities and protocols. (so that Tellarites and Andorians don't start picking fights, but instead find a way to work together) TREK-derived parallel Universe This one is tricky. If the Vulcans aren't there guiding (and politicizing) United Earth Space Probe Agency's program, then it is harder to imagine a Coalition forming. It seemed to me that at least someone in the Vulcan High Command was working with the Romulans to disrupt Earth and stop the Coalition from forming (or to defeat it). Take Vulcan out of that equation and you're looking at a different situation entirely. If Earth and other advanced nearby worlds were compelled to form an alliance because of a mysterious Romulan (or other alien) security threat, then someone would have to be at the core of it. If the participating worlds formed a combined Coalition fleet that would become the Federation, Vulcans of no, there would be a lot of internal politics to overcome. In ENT, I saw Earth (and other non-Vulcan allies) suspicious of Vulcan for both its mysterious and sometimes aggressive moves and also because it was the most technologically advanced world in the galactic neighborhood. It was stated in "Fallen Hero" that the top-of-the-line Vulcan battlecruiser could sustain Warp 7 for 15 minutes. Apparently, this became the goal of Earth (and ultimately the Coalition/Federation): to produce a new generation of starships capable of sustaining Warp 7 for at least that length of time so that a new technological plateau for advanced starships could be established for projecting power as a stabilizing influence. The would make it easier for all of the Coalition/Federation member worlds to get along and deal with any hostile neighbors. So if you're looking at the military/diplomatic aspect of it, the Coalition/Federation is going to need as many Warp 7 starships as it would take to stabilize the interstellar neighborhood and stand up credibly against any threats. Beyond that, the backbone of any power or group of nations, today or in a speculative spacefaring future, is going to be the strength of its economy. Where does it get its raw materials from, and how are the shipped, pooled, processed, used, etc.? If the technology of the future (for everything from rail cars to computers to spacecraft) is fabricated from raw materials mined from nearby asteroids, moons, or from distant planets in other star systems (Rigel XII, Capella IV, Delta Vega), a spacefaring civilization would have to build and maintain an infrastructure of extraction, transportation, trade and manufacturing that would sustainably provide the needed gadgets, terrestrial buildings, ships, and other needed value-added goods to sustain all of the society's terrestrial communities, distant colonies and space fleets in perpetuity. Back in 2008, I started a thread about warptugs. My supposition was that so-called "freighters" were mass-movers that acted like a cross between a railroad, a postal system and a shipping fleet. It would be the circulatory system that would sustain homeworlds, starbases, fleets, and colonies with the raw materials and processed goods they would need. We see the rudimentary references to this in the supply of quadrotriticale grain to Sherman's Planet (TOS, "The Trouble with Tribbles"; TAS, "More Tribbles, More Troubles"). I see this 2008 thread about warptugs as a kind of backbone concept for an FTL spacefaring society. Exploratory and military starships exist for scientific, diplomatic and defensive purposes to protect and project the ongoing mission of that economy. They go out to "explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations" and to make sure the ongoing work of the homeworlds' / colonial economy is not disrupted. So, if you can mine asteroids in your own home star system to provide raw materials for all of your homeworld needs, plus the needs of the Starfleet, etc., then all you need for the mining are impulse-powered ore ships. But if you need to go to Rigel XII or Delta Vega for dilithium, you'll need the build ships like the Woden or the Huron to haul your precious cargo. And ships like Huron and Woden need ships like the Enterprise to explore, research, and protect those extraction interests. (NOTE: I also recently started a different thread on TOS and pre-TOS era freighters as well; it might also be of use.)
So you mean the Starfleet as joined by Archer maybe 20 years before the launch of the NX-01 Enterprise?
Wingsley, you make some interesting points. I hadn't thought of the Vulcans being such a motivating factor in the Enterprise era for all the involved parties, but you do make good points. (To be honest, I still haven't seen about half of the show.) And I will re-read your frieghter thread... I recall it from before, but it would stand review, I think. Yes, actually. I was referring to, not so much the founding of the Federation and that combined service, but more to the incipient star service of the UESPA era. With humanity realizing that a reach for the stars is a doable venture... The question is how do they make it practical. So how do YOU think it should/would/could have been done? Perhaps I should have said early 22nd Century rather than mid. My bad. --Alex
I think we can assume from the get-go that Earth has fully recovered from WW III and is in a position to pursue spaceflight again. There would have to be a global 1990s-style boom to jump-start a massive space effort. It would have to be international in scope and in organization. There would have to be tangible benefits for the inhabitants of Earth; maybe the mining of near Earth asteroids would provide needed resources to help Earth continue its boom. I would expect that it would take a large, multi-decade investment to launch a massive space effort. The space effort would have to be planned so that resource extraction would help Earth get a return-on-investment PLUS be able to jump-start the foundation, construction and sustainability of a permanent presence in space (mining operations, raw materials transportation, space-fleet ships, space stations, dry-docks, etc.) There would also have to be a massive effort to educate personnel. As with the Cold War (but an effort many times larger), there would have to be an international effort to recruit and train a new wave of career astronauts. A spacefaring civilization requires the active cultivation and sustainability of a large number of qualified people to live and work in space in perpetuity. One key issue facing Earth in the late 21st and throughout the 22nd centuries would be Global Climate Change. One of Earth's first major challenges as a spacefaring civilization will be to reverse the effects of climate change. It is predicted that, as the global climate heats up, summers will become hotter and agriculture could be effected. Arid areas may expand and droughts may escalate on a global scale. UESPA may be charged with finding ways to divert small water-based comets, chop them up, and drop small fragments toward the planet surface at an angle in rapid succession to inject huge amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere. UESPA would also be charged with coordinating an effort to analyze and develop plans to reduce greenhouse gases (CO2, Methane) in Earth's atmosphere.
Love the series long time trekie here looking to get real ship schematics auto cad blueprints etc, want to form a group of like minded individuals who would like to design ships and command as well as protocols guys I did not mean to hijack the thread just saw some great replies and I'm wanting to get a bunch of us together with similar ideas for the fun and challenge of doing it please feel free to write me at ssj2251@yahoo.com. Steve
This all makes sense. I would add, as a source of motivation (in the Trek setting at any rate), that the public contact with Vulcans, which proves to the world that we are indeed not alone, would likely promote the idea of joining the interstellar community. Another issue would be technology. It seems that in Trek, gravity is better understood and had been since at least the 1990s. (SEE the DY-100, Botany Bay.) All surface-to-orbit vessels in Trek seem to be using anti-gravity of one brand or another to fly out of atmosphere. If that technology was already maturing by the early 21st Century, then it stands to reason that the price tag of escaping Earth's gravity would be significantly less than the brute-force chemical boosters of the prior century. This would certainly impact the development of space industry. This is an interesting idea. Space-based solutions to climate control are something I hadn't considered. I wonder how effective your comet plan would be, given that with warmer seas and melted ice caps, you already have quite a bit more free water already on the surface. Right? I don't know enough about this comet idea to really make any judgments, but I would like to learn more. Also, I wonder how greenhouse emission climate change would interact with the effects of the oft-cited post-WWIII nuclear winter. Wouldn't having all that dust in the upper atmosphere reflect a whole bunch of sunlight and actually cause temperatures to drop substantially? Now, I'm sure there are all kinds of obvious reasons why nuclear holocaust is NOT the answer to global warming, but I'm curious how a more nuanced thought-experiment might unfold. Here's an idea that just occurred to me: in a nuclear winter scenario, perhaps the widespread agricultural failures would cause enough of a crisis that non-traditional farming (hydroponics and the sort) gets a huge research boost and the resulting technologies made to grow food under the dust-cloud have easy spin-off applications that help make it practical to establish laboratory-based agriculture in orbital stations and moon bases. Easy access to such off-world assets, what with the anti-gravity vehicles of the era, would make an initial boom into space seem likely. Interesting..... --Alex
I admire your enthusiasm. I'm not quite sure what you're asking for, here, but I think you might be wanting to delve a bit more deeply into the tiny minutiae of starship operation. I will tell you that, aside from stage blueprints for the actual production of the show, there are no universally accepted official "real ship schematics" for any of the space craft in Star Trek. But, if you really wish to dig into this sort of thing, you're almost in the right place! Search through threads in the Trek Tech forum and the Trek Art forum. You'll find a lot of effort already spent on some of the topics you mentioned. Welcome to TrekBBS. --Alex
...Or then drive that change even further, creating additional arable land and increasing yields, while compensating for droughts by measured application of free fresh water (which is an automatic byproduct of free energy, which Trek seems to have even in the Archer era). Climate control would go much beyond climate change reversal. Change isn't bad - indeed, it's a blessing for the most adaptable species on the planet! Or then it's a commercial effort, or a national one (since full UE still waits around the corner at the time of the founding of the UE Starfleet). Certainly it seems to be ongoing at Mars in the era under study here, as a relic (?) of this project appears in "Demons"/"Terra Prime". Getting all that radioactive soot out of the atmosphere and soil would certainly be a pressing problem - and any solution to that would also yield spinoffs in control of the climate effects of atmospheric pollution by definition. Perhaps Vulcans already had those nifty soil purifiers that are the McGuffin in DS9 "Shakaar"? It appears to me that a government/multi-government Starfleet would have to be formed posthaste simply to cope with the proliferation of Earth spacecraft (including interstellar ones) in the late 21st and early 22nd century. Its duties and powers could be scaled accordingly, leaving things like exploration and defense completely off the agenda (also because Vulcans have already explored everything and will take care of defense). In the background, powers would be conspiring to turn this force into a real navy, with the aforementioned traditional tasks, but would have to mind the Vulcan presence. Absent Vulcans, I could see the benefit of studying how the nations of South America formed their navies. Those nations sprung up at a time when having an intercontinental navy was already an art form the bigger players had down pat. Should one lure in foreign expert commanders and shipwrights, purchase foreign vessels, obtain licenses to foreign technologies, hire mercenaries...? Should one scale the effort for countering those of the closest neighbors, or for securing one's vital overseas connections, or for a demonstration of the potency of one's new nation? Entering the Vulcans might also fit that picture - the South Americans did have to mind the powerful European and US navies, after all. Although a simpler political analogue might be found in the creation of the modern Imperial Japanese Navy. Timo Saloniemi
GODDAMMIT! * sigh * Fine. I'll do it. Damn kids.... Is FAR from the first question you need to ask. The question is "What kinds of PEOPLE do you need?" Firstly, I need engineers. LOTS of engineers. People with practical aerospace experience, preferably related to spaceflight, although naval engineers (submariners, preferably) wouldn't be missed. At this point in history there should be a lot of people with a telecommunications background who have worked with satellites and space probes and I'm going to be tapping that labor pool aggressively. I also need EVA workers. NOT astronauts, per se; a group of people I sometimes call "payloaders." That is, blue-collar types whose job usually involves hauling large heavy objects out of the payload bays of spacecraft. These guys are going to be doing a lot of the grunt work in the new Starfleet, and when we start exploring strange new worlds I'm going to be providing them all with fancy new red shirts... When it comes time to start buying ships, I'm going to start with Boomers. Earth Cargo Service has some ships capable of warp one, going on warp two. The first thing I do is commission a couple of those ships and start modifying them as research platforms. We're going to start with trial/training/research missions to the outer solar system on a semi-regular basis to build the experience base for crews that will eventually be traveling out to Alpha Centauri and nearby star systems. Meanwhile, I'll have Henry Archer leading an engineering team that will be pushing to develop a new warp-3 capable engine. Six. Two on research assignment at any given time, two on security/standby duty (Starfleet's other role we hope to expand upon, which helps cement our business case. United Earth is unwilling to give us full funding for our research priorities unless we can also double as a peacekeeping agency in deep space). The last two kept in reserve, rotated in as the other four make port calls for repairs, overhaul or refit. Add more ships as dock space, personnel and funding becomes available. Not at all. Better to keep it in house, so Starfleet will acquire and then retain that knowledge base for itself. We want civilian services to eventually hire us for that work, not the other way around. Considering the Vulcans aren't providing us with anything other than technical support and virtually nothing in the way of funding, I have a hard time understanding why they WOULD be involved. Unless, of course, we bought one of their ships in a lend-lease deal, but ONLY in that case would they have any say in how we use that equipment. I don't know about "Star Trek style" threats, but early Earth Starfleet is going to have to prove itself by making itself available to civilian colonies in the outer solar system to resolve disputes and ensure safety and security. Ships that get hit by meteorites or suffer engine trouble will need to be able to call Starfleet for a rescue. Hijackings and other spaceborne crimes will involve us too. Deep space commerce becomes an issue when the civilian presence grows, in which case regulating shipping lines and rights of passage will require newer and more specialized ships for that kind of stuff, plus, we'll have to train officers to handle customs issues and deal with cultural conflicts that arise between Earth traders and foreign customers. At some point we're going to need faster ships that can make those journeys in more reasonable lengths of time. Warp-three starships can help deal with the interstellar trade situation, and Starfleet officers attached to the Cargo Service can help us make first contact with various races we're trying to trade with. Henry Archer's warp five program will bear fruit by the 2150s (apparently) and he's designing a whole new type of starship for that job. Good for him. Not sure what HE thinks this program is about, but I've got a short list of exploration targets in nearby space and I want NX-01 scouting those systems/planets for resource potential. Specifically, Earth needs new sources of dilithium, duranium, pergium and tritanium, among other things. That'll be the prime agenda for the first five years or so, at least until we have a second NX-class ship on the roster.
Neil deGrasse Tyson has some interesting points of view on the future of the US space program. Short, 10 minute excerpt of an interview: <https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eoxWy1v-EGU> Longish Atlantic article: <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/neil-degrasse-tyson-how-space-exploration-can-make-america-great-again/253989/> Long, >2hr lecture on the subject: <https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBNHLWj07o> His big talking point is having someone do large, exciting, visible projects motivates people to go out and do their best. And since all economies are simply measures of how much and how well people *act* on what they *care* about, funding NASA to do a big, showy trip to the moon, followed shortly by a colony there with big, showy exploration of the moon, etc, would stimulate the economy back to what it was in the 1960s/70s, a economic golden era of the US. With that in mind, I think of UESPA and Star Fleet as a project for pulling the post WWIII Earth out of its depression and into an era of prosperity. And I'd use First Contact with the Vulcans as the excuse: "Look! They have an entire interstellar community! It's peaceful! It's beautiful! I want to be part of it! Don't you?" So, if I were starting the UESPA Star Fleet, problem number one is making sure everyone, inside and outside the organization, believes we are about the sugary sweet principals that are expounded on again and again throughout Star Trek: egalitarianism, pacifism (under most circumstances), universal acceptance of belief systems, exploration, understanding, etc, etc, etc. Keep spouting that tripe and really believe in it. Act on it. Make others believe in it too. That's problem number one. Problem number two is inventing the technology to get humanity out into the stars. Fortunately, if you can deal with problem #1, above, you'll attract the people you want to solve problem #2. And these engineers would be the core of Star Fleet, which gives a new meaning to "Star Fleet Core of Engineers." (Yes, I know it's "corps" and not "core". It's called a joke. Not a good joke, I grant you.) Getting the goods, services and materials to make it happen depends on how bad off your society is. If it's genuinely post apocalyptic, you'll have to create a infrastructural community around you. But once you are able to show a single remarkable launch, the community will grow exponentially. I think this is what happened to Zefram Cochrane. We know he did not intent to create a Utopian Society, he wanted to get rich. But once he showed that humanity could escape Earth into the solarsystem, he was overwhelmed by the need of humanity for something to dream for. When making an organization you hope to become extra large, the biggest difficulty is making sure the ideals and intentions of the organization remain true to the original vision and purpose after you and your children are dead. The only method I know that has worked over the long period is religious beliefs and even these tend to get corrupted by power dynamics. I think, once we were on the road to solving problems 1 and 2, this third problem would become the focus of my attentions.
1. Nice homage - intentional or not - to the old Choose Your Own Adventure books you've got going on there in the thread title. 2. Of COURSE I'm in charge - I declared myself Emperor of the United States on Sept. 30, 2013. I'm ALWAYS in charge. 3. 22nd century?! I'm NOT waiting that long. Our solar system is HUGE - plenty to explore for the next hundred years, at least, and we already have the tech to do it without warp or Alcubierre drives - if I can ever get the Joint Chief to accept my predecessor Emperor Norton I's order to clear out Congress and the White House so those bozos quit usurping my authority.
I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson, but like most scientists close to the subject, he couldn't be more wrong about this. We don't need big showy space projects to build enthusiasm for the space program, because the public is too fickle to sustain that enthusiasm for any length of time. More to the point, the American oligarchy is too fickle to care about public enthusiasm if it doesn't also support their own political agenda, so that's TWO populations that are being pandered to that don't actually have a solution to the problem. This is why the commercialization of space was such a game changer. I say "was" because it's already been well underway for fifty years, with the advent of telecommunications satellites, military reconnaissance, weather research, etc. NASA didn't have to do "big showy satellite" projects in order to get the public to fund communications satellites; INDUSTRY decided they had need of that technology and they saw to it that it was developed. Therefore, NASA's goal should be to any means at their disposal to stimulate industrial usage of space. The COTS program and Commercial Crew are good examples. Resource exploitation of space is another excellent direction to take, especially if plentiful sources of platinum group metals could be extracted from the moon or Near Earth Asteroids (making ethanol fuel cells practical for widespread use) and if we ever figure out this whole fusion power thing, maybe eventually helium-3 from the moon. All of which depends on NASA making space more accessible to corporations and investors. The public doesn't have to care what's going on in space exploration; the only people who have to care are the people who making money on it, and if you want more people to explore space, you need to find a way for more people to make money there. That said: Earth Starfleet under the Eddie Administration is going to have three primary goals: 1) Scientific research Data collected on asteroid and planetary bodies is collected at our new "Memory Alpha" facility at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Data includes maps, geological surveys, orbital elements, chemical elements, warnings on potential hazards, summary of environmental conditions and a summary of all possible, probable or confirmed exploitable resources on such bodies. All data is freely available to anyone who wants it. Additionally, Starfleet's sciences division continues to improve technology used in space exploration such as propulsion technologies, safety systems, communications and computer technology. Experimental data as well as data on nearly discovered life forms. This, again, is available to anyone who wants it, free of charge. 2) Space Security All colonization projects, commercial cargo or personnel transport ventures, resource extraction and energy collection projects must be able to rely on a swift and responsive Starfleet presence to ensure the the security of their operations against natural hazards, accidents, sabotage or hostile action. Starfleet must at all times seek to create a safe and productive environment for United Earth citizens operating in space. This service, again, is provided free of charge. 3) Infrastructure Building We encourage private institutions to commission Starfleet in the direct support of colonization or research missions not undertaken by Starfleet itself. Our engineers can be made available to assist in the construction of space stations or outposts in areas of interest, for a negotiable fee. For a lower cost, Starfleet vessels can be chartered for specific research purposes, such as the deployment of specialized equipment (probes, satellites, deep space telescopes, etc) or for unique experimental projects. The goal of this priority is to encourage access to space by scientists who otherwise do not have access to space transportation; accordingly, charter fees will be assessed on a sliding scale. A specialized "Corps of Engineers" is planned at a future date that will specialize in the former priority, making Starfleet mobile assets (e.g. starships) more available to charter missions. I disagree. Problem Number One is building a solid core of qualified personnel who are capable of doing their jobs effectively and efficiently. The rank and file don't have to believe in any sort of lofty sweet principals to weld two space station modules together, just the leadership who gives them their orders. I mention this because failure to do so seriously hinders the dealing with the second problem. The fact of the matter is, not everyone who has the skills you're looking for is going to be a true believer in what you're trying to do. This is actually EXPLICITLY true in the Trek universe, where the most experienced space explorers of the 22nd century are actually those of the Earth Cargo Service, who don't really care about exploring strange new worlds and are simply out to make a buck.
You know, what you guys have come up with here sounds like the beginnings of a GREAT strategy-based video game, one that would neatly bridge the gap between First Contact and NX-01's launch. (Start it in 2165, right after the Valiant tragedy, and span it right up to Enterprise's pilot, and you'd have a winner.) A lot like Buzz Aldrin's recently reworked/rereleased "Space Program Manager" game, in fact.
LAFORGE: Your theories on warp drive allow fleets of starships to be built and mankind to start exploring the Galaxy. TROI: It unites humanity in a way no one ever thought possible when they realise they're not alone in the universe. Poverty, disease, war. They'll all be gone within the next fifty years. Fifty years would be about the year 2113. I interpret this to be saying that by the year 2113 mankind will have "fleets of starships ... exploring the Galaxy." And that this was the "it" Troi was referring to. This lines up with the vast majority of canon information in the first four series prior to ENT. That information would seem to fly in the face of the story line of ENT, where it takes a century to produce one real exploration starship. So what I think actually happens is that following Cochrane first warp flight on April 5, 2063, humanity absolutely explodes off of this planet. The SS Valiant leaves Earth before the year 2265. 2067 the warp drive probe Friendship One. 2069 colonization mission bound for Terra Nova. Terratin colony (from TAS) also left around this time. 22nd century, Humans were building multiple civilian freighters. 2102 the SS Hokule was on a mission of "deep space" exploration. 2105, the VK Yuri Gagarin on a colonization mission. 2120 the HMS Lord Nelson on a mission of "deep space" exploration. 2135 the HMS New Zealand on a diplomatic mission. 2146, the Urusei Yatsura was on a nebula survey project. 2165 (about) the starship Archon went Landru's planet, the Horizon to the gangster planet. The use of SS, and HMS, and VK suggests to me that multiple countries are sending out starships. I see national governments, and corporate entities, and universities, and private groups sending starships into the interstellar void for different reasons. The nation (and some corps) have their own colonies and starships and alien allies. There is a drive to grow outwards, no one uses the phrase "empire building" but that's basically what it is. Why have a Starfleet at all? A military space force would come into existence because it's required, if you have acquired multiple colonies, hundreds of civilian freighters, exploration ships, diplomatic ties, exclusive trade routes and lots of trading partners, and all this exist in a galaxy that is less than completely friendly, the pressing need for a fleet develops. Plus, some Earth nations are in direct competition with each other. Corporations also have their own armed ships to protect their assets. And privately owned starships are going all over the place. Plus there's the international organization known as United Earth. As more Earth nations accept membership in the United Earth, international and interstellar competition (between those members) eases. While member nations retained exclusive jurisdiction over their own starships, those starships could be selectively deployed for UESPA combined operations. UESPA task forces would be formed for colonization, exploration and for the protection of UE members who possessed no armed starships of their own. Fairly quickly the UE assumed the role of single point of diplomatic contact between member nations and other species, member nations could of course continue to engage in direct diplomatic contact (and several did), but the UE's utility in this area was seen by most as a good convenience. And then Humanity met the Kzinti.
And then Humanity met the Kzinti. Humans had been hearing stories of the Kzinti for decades, and had been generally avoiding the region surrounding their home system. The Kzinti had recently entered into a period of expansion and had begun to attack Human colonies and trade. The Kzinti refusal to agree to any sort of discussions, combined with the fact that they ate their Human captives resulted in Earth's first full interstellar war. At the time less than half of Earth's nations were UE members, and (with a few exceptions) the nations with the most powerful armed starship fleets were non-members. The UE nations and the non-UE nations with armed starships formed the Earth Solar Navy. What followed was a series of four wars. The Kzinti of that time were basically in technological parity with Humanity in terms of propulsion, but Humans were superior in weapon systems because of Human history, Humans defeated them in battle, but lacked the ability in the first three wars to conqueror their civilization. The last of the four wars resulted in the Treaty of Sirius, Humanity was in a position to force a disarmament upon the Kzinti people. There was no fifth war. Humanity emerged from the Kzinti wars with a powerful military force (combatant and support), experience in large scale interstellar logistics, dozens of forward bases, deuterium refueling depots around gas giants. It's at this time that the UE began to refer to it's membership's combined starships as "Starfleet." As before, member nations retained exclusive jurisdiction over their own starships, however now the costs associated with their operation were born by the UE membership while deployed in Starfleet. Some of the member nations open their military academies to any cadet from any UE member nation for training. This would eventual grow into the Starfleet Academy. Earth received the admiration and goodwill of the civilizations surrounding the former Kzinti dominated space. There came into being a perception of Earth as a force to be reckoned with, a civilization that was a up and coming power whose views should be considered. United Earth became the "go to guy" when it came to mediating diplomatic disputes, brokering trade deals and interstellar banking. Raiders and pirates began to avoid Human freighters, Earth nations had destroyers and frigates to spare for the occasional escort, the UE starship would protect UE members shipping who possessed no armed starships of their own. This last became a great "selling point" to join the UE. Shipping on Human freighters was seen as a smart business choice for many species. Human built starships were seen as desirable and orbital shipyards began producing hundreds of starships for multiple alien species. Fast military starships were converted for exploration, the Human network of colonies grew. On Earth the UE continued to grow as well, by the mid 21st century the vast majority of Earth nation were members (despite the name, the UE never include all of Earth's nations). Off world nations located on the Moon, Mars, and several of the older interstellar colonies were also full members. And then Humanity met the Romulans. Defeating the Romulans in many ways is actually what created the United Federation of Planets. Without the Romulan War, the Federation might not have come into existence for decades, centuries, or at all. The point (hey, there was one) that I was making above is that Starfleet likely wasn't the result of a single deliberate plan to make a Starfleet. It's creation was likely the unintended result of decades of separate decisions that created a political system, alliances, financing, a supply of ships and the means to make them. And the need to have a Starfleet at all. Not sure is my little manifesto answered your basic question.
No, that was awesome. All of these replies are great. The UESPA era building up to what we saw in Star Trek is a fascinating setting for me. This all goes to show what rich potential there is for stories in the era. It makes sense to me that everything would have grown organically in response to other pressures. It's a fascinating assumption that United Earth never really actually had every nation as a member. And I always love to hear more about the Kzinti Wars. And the importance of post WWIII climate and politics is interesting as well. And the importance of mustering the right talent in personnel seems critical too. In short, I'm saving all of this. Keep it coming! --Alex
For the mystery of why NX-01 would be the first real explorer, it's pretty simple to argue that there are several grades of "real explorer" out there. Most of the ships listed as operating before NX-01 could have been unable to report back on their findings in anything shorter than a decade, due to inferior propulsion and comms - so "the government" (that is, whoever was backing the Warp Five Project, be it the UE or some other entity) would not merely be scoring a semantic point by launching "its own first" explorer, but would also be making a quantum leap in finally deploying an all-new kind of an explorer. As for UESPA performing Starfleet roles before there was Starfleet, I'd rather think UESPA always was just a SPA for the UE - a concentrated effort at doing scientific or otherwise exploitative probing, without a sideline in anti-piracy ops or policing or whatever. The need for an actual centralized UE space navy rose a bit later, and when it did, UESF was quick to absorb UESPA as its exploration arm, a symbolic role it kept even after UESF hatched into UFPSF. Sure, UESPA could also have been a nascent UE space combat force. But we lack references to UESPA ships or probes doing any fighting, and the name itself is suggestive enough. And getting a UESF organized before the UE even covers the whole globe is pretty good going; having that happen in the 2110s or 2120s does not leave a pressing need for any sort of a comparable but preceding force to exist. IMHO. As for the Kzinti, I'd like to keep the TAS bit where Chuft-Captain laments that "always you have had superior equipment". The four "wars" may have been complete mockery of warfare, even if humans at the time might not have realized this. Hence no interstellar recognition of human military prowess in ENT yet, even though humans themselves feel they have a space navy and a space army worth the titles. It's a bit difficult to see Earth concentrating so hard on NX-01 if their interstellar standing is that of mighty Kzinti-slayers. "We beat the ratcats" might instead elicit snickering even in Vulcans, humbling the Earthlings into forgetting ambitions of building a mighty combat fleet (an otherwise natural reaction after an interstellar invasion!). Timo Saloniemi
Earth: We beat the Kzinti, surely the Klingon's won't be a problem. we'll just send a starship right up to their homeworld and drop off this tresspasser we found in Broken Bow. Vulcan: That is highly illogical.