Starfleet is the deep space exploration and defense service that is maintained by the United Federation of Planets. The principle functions of Starfleet includes the advancement of knowledge of the galaxy and its inhabitants, as well as knowledge of all areas of scientific and non-scientific study. Starfleet's ancillary duties include the defense of the Federation as well as the facilitation of Federation diplomacy. Starfleet personnel are frequently brought into contact with cultures whose existence were unknown to the Federation, therefore, Starfleet officers often act as the official representatives of the Federation in these cases. As well, Starfleet vessels are frequently utilized to ferry ambassadors on diplomatic missions.

 

Starfleet was established under the original Starfleet Charter in 2130 as an Earth-based space exploration organization. The highest authority was Starfleet Command, located at Starfleet Headquarters in the city of San Francisco, Earth. Starfleet Command had the authority to administer projects and missions, issue orders to Starfleet officers and vessels, restrict access to certain facilities, and approve security protocols. One of Starfleet's earliest projects was the Warp 5 program, aimed at developing a viable and fast interstellar engine that would allow Earth's ships to cross vast distances over a reasonably short amount of time. Enterprise NX-01 was the first Starfleet vessel to carry a warp capable engine, launching in 1951. It helped establish Earth as an interstellar power, negotiating treaties between the Andorians and Vulcans in 2152; saving the galaxy from the Sphere-builders and the Xindi in 2154; and facilitating peace talks between the Andorians and the Tellarites following attacks on both races in late 2154. Throughout its tenure, the Enterprise made first contact with over thirty species, despite Earth having period of xenophobia after the Xindi incident. Some Starfleet personnel worked in conjunction with the United Earth Diplomatic Corps.

 

Beginning in 2153, some Starfleet vessels started carrying detachments of MACOs, an Earth military service. This practice was in reaction to the attack of the Xindi on Earth as well the dangers encountered during the resulting mission into the Delphic Expanse. The decision to carry these units were left up to individual captains and was not a formal policy of Starfleet Command at the time.

 

When the United Federation of Planets was formed in 2161, per the Federation Charter, the United Earth Starfleet, MACO, and the deep space and defensive services of the other member worlds were folded under the authority of the Federation. That same year, Starfleet was given a charter "to boldly go where no man has gone before", and adaptation of a phrase spoken by Zefram Cochrane in 2119. Until as late as the 2290s, some of Starfleet's operations fell partially under the jurisdiction of the UESPA. However by the mid 24th Century, Starfleet operations were regulated solely by Starfleet Command, answering to the Federation President and the Federation Council.

 

Starfleet is and has always been a multiracial organization. Even thought it started as an organization that represented United Earth, then later the United Federation of Planets, it is not a requirement for Starfleet personnel to be from a member species of the Federation. Non-Federation citizens can join Starfleet, but in order to do so, a command-level officer has to submit a letter of recommendation on behalf of the individual in question. The USS Alan Turing has many non-Federation members of the crew, filling many roles in both the Operations and Sciences Divisions.