The existence of the Federation is arguably the lodestone of all Star Treklore. Creator Gene Roddenberry’s dream of a future where humanity has put all its prejudices and in-fighting behind it in order to travel outer space with open arms provides the backbone of the franchise’s entire identity, so the fact that Earth acts as a leader in a union of countless different planets, cultures, and species perfectly demonstrates Trek‘s central message of diversity and friendship.

The concept of the United Federation of Planets has been there since the very beginnings of Trekin 1966 (give or take a few episodes), but fans were left guessing as to the history of the Federation for longer than you might think. It was always understood that Starfleet was the Federation’s exploratory and defensive arm, but the origins of the Federation — including how it got started and who were its founding members — was not disclosed until late into the franchise’s development. When it was finally established, however, the new lore was in keeping with Trek’slong history and tied everything back to its own beginnings.

Which Species Joined Earth In Co-Founding The Federation?

Star Trekplayed the long game with its world-building. Throughout the first season of The Original Series, it’s not entirely clear who Captain Kirk and his Enterprise crew work for and represent, and a few different terms are tried on for size before Roddenberry and his writers find the right ones. Starfleet is originally called “Star Service” and “Space Fleet” before being officially christened Starfleet in Season 1, Episode 15, “The Menagerie.” Likewise, “United Earth” or the “United Earth Space Probe Agency” are namechecked before the Federation is finally said aloud in Season 1, Episode 23, “A Taste of Armageddon.”

This was when it was named, but for the franchise to actually explore the origins of the United Federation of Planets took much, much longer. Almost forty years, to be precise, as the founding of the Federation wasn’t put on screen until Star Trek: Enterprise,which ran from 2001 to 2005. Although there had been numerous series and movies in the interim, these had been dedicated to looking forward and not back, and it wasn’t until Enterprisethat the franchise finally delivered a prequel that promised fans it would answer any and all questions they had about Treklore.

Infamously, Enterprisewas canceled before it was able to depict the Federation’s origins to the fullest, but the show was still able to get across all the salient points. Essentially, the Federation was formed in 2161 and originally consisted of four founding members. These four galactic powers had previously made an alliance for the first time six years prior as part of a war with the Romulans. This Coalition of Planets was strained and flimsy, however, and made it clear that a more formal union was needed if this quartet of species were truly to become allies. The species in question were humans from Earth, the Vulcans from Vulcan, the Andorians from Andoria, and the Tellarites from Tellar Prime.

Humans and Vulcans have obviously been the backbone of Starfleet and the Federation throughout Trek, and Star Trek: First Contactconfirmed that Vulcans were the first aliens that humanity made contact with. Prior series had also made clear that Andoria and Tellar were firm allies, as well, with representatives of those planets appearing on-screen as early as TOSSeason 2’s “Journey to Babel.” Still, there was no official confirmation that these four specific peoples were the founding members of the Federation until Enterprise. Even then, it took until the show’s flash-forward of a finale, Season 4’s “These Are The Voyages…” to make it canon.

Prior to Enterprise, neither the Andorians nor the Tellarites had featured in a prominent role in The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine,or Voyager. This was due to executive producer Rick Berman, who hated the look and design of both species and thought they looked too goofy.

How Many Planets Are Part Of The Federation?

Although Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar were the founding members of the Federation, Star Trek‘s various shows make it clear that numerous other worlds and species later joined the union and the number of members soon grew exponentially. But how many planets are part of the Federation in total? Due to the shifting timeline of the Trekuniverse, the number fluctuates show by show, with the changing eras marking both upswings and downturns in the Federation’s reach and power.

In First Contact, we learn that by 2373 — so, just over 200 years on from the Federation’s foundation — there were at least 150 Federation members. The next several hundred years of Federation history are largely a mystery, but due to Discoveryleaping ahead to the 32nd century, some facts have been revealed. For instance, it is known that, at its absolute peak, the Federation united 350 different worlds and species.

Unfortunately, the Burn — the cosmic cataclysm that made warp drive travel impossible, severely hindering interplanetary alliances — brought the Federation to the point of collapse. As more and more worlds adopted isolationist stances, the Federation’s membership numbers fell to their lowest figures in centuries. By the year 3189, there were only 38 worlds remaining under the Federation banner. Thanks to the USS Discovery, however, warp drive travel became feasible again, and the galaxy began to heal fast.

Those who were among the first to rejoin the fold are three out of the four founding members from long ago — Earth, Andoria, and Ni’Var, the new name given to Vulcan following the reunification of Vulcans and Romulans. As soon as 3190, Federation membership rose to 60 and Starfleet Academyhas seen this grow even further, with old allies such as Trill and Betazed returning to the ranks. With directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s upcoming Trekmovie confirmed to be set further in the future than ever before, it seems that the Federation — just like Star Trek itself— is only going to keep growing and growing.