One of the world’s most long-lived franchises, Star Trek has built a vast and sprawling timeline. Created by Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek introduced viewers to a galaxy of incredible potential – one where the human race had finally evolved beyond the need for money, where civilizations banded together into a United Federation of Planets, and where starships like the Enterprise dared to boldly go where no-one had gone before. But even this apparent utopia contained dangers and threats.
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The Star Trek franchises has explored Earth’s distant past and the galaxy’s far future, unveiling alien races and human conspiracies. To watch Star Trek in order is to dive into a complex, immersive timeline where everything counts, where technology advances, and where even the Federation rises and falls (only to rise again, Phoenix-like, from the ashes). Here’s the complete Star Trek timeline for any viewers who want to explore this undertaking.
2151-2161 – Star Trek: Enterprise
In timeline order, the first Star Trek show is Enterprise. Airing from 2001 to 2005, this initially served as something of the ultimate prequel, showing the foundation of the United Federation of Planets and the very first starship Enterprise. Viewers swiftly realized Enterprise was far more than a prequel, though, because the show introduced a Temporal Cold War that would explore the galaxy’s past, present, and future – and allow for a lot of cameos.
2256-2259 – Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1-2
Airing from 2017 through to 2018, the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery are set in 2256-2259. The USS Discovery is an experimental vessel with a unique spore drive allowing it to travel across the galaxy in seconds, but the ship’s crew soon find themselves on the front lines of a war between the Federation and the Klingons. Matters escalate in Discovery Season 2, leading to a time travel plot that takes the ship into the distant future.
2259 – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Spinning out of Discovery Season 2, Strange New Worlds explores the adventures of the USS Enterprise under Ansell Mount’s Captain Christopher Pike. Season 1 aired in 2022, and the show is still ongoing; Season 4 is expected to air in 2026, with a shorter fifth season also in production.
2265-2269 – Star Trek: The Original Series
The TV show that started it all, Star Trek: The Original Series charts the continuing adventures of the USS Enterprise under the leadership of William Shatner’s Captain Kirk and Leonard Nimoy’s First Officer Spock. It’s an epic series with an unforgettable legacy, even if some of the adventures have dated a little now.
2269-2270 – Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Original Series was canceled in 1969, but proved to be a hit in syndication. Roddenberry decided to continue the series in animated form, with most of the original cast returning to voice their characters. It ran for two seasons, until 1974.
The First Star Trek Movies
The USS Enterprise headed to the big screen in 1979 for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, inspired by the success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It didn’t take long for the franchise to evolve into an ongoing series of blockbuster hits, which play out in the timeline like this:
- 2273 – Star Trek: The Motion Picture, in which the USS Enterprise confronts a mysterious ship headed towards Earth.
- 2285 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, two movies that sit back-to-back, involving the death and resurrection of Spock.
- 2286 – Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, in which the USS Enterprise conducts a time travel mission to save the Earth.
- 2287 – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, featuring a renegade Vulcan named Sybok who is Spock’s half-brother.
- 2293 – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which a Klingon-Federation peace treaty is disrupted by conspirators intend on causing war.
2324 – Section 31
The Star Trek timeline gets a little tricky here. A refugee from the Mirror Universe introduced in Star Trek: Discovery, Philippa Georgiou traveled to the distant future along with the USS Discovery. She was sent back in time again in Season 3, but evidently didn’t return to anything remotely like her own time, instead turning up in the early 24th century. The Star Trek: Section 31 streaming film explores one of her missions.
2364 – 2378 – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
Meanwhile, Star Trek moved back to the small screen for a popular range of TV shows that overlap significantly in the timeline. The Next Generation introduces Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard at the helm of a new USS Enterprise; Deep Space Nine runs concurrently with the other shows, charting a developing conflict over the Bajoran wormhole; and the USS Voyager is sent into the distant Delta Quadrant.
Many viewers have attempted to create rough chronologies, but these are tricky to maintain. The best approach is to watch them in the order the shows began:
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek: Voyager
2371 – Star Trek: Generations
The Next Generation cast headed to the big screen in a series of movies that continued to expand the Star Trek timeline. Here’s how they fit:
- 2371 – Star Trek: Generations, a “passing of the torch” featuring William Shatner’s Captain Kirk and Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard.
- 2373 – Star Trek: First Contract, featuring the anticipated Borg invasion and another time travel plot.
- 2375 – Star Trek: Insurrection tells the story of an undercover mission that goes spectacularly wrong.
- 2379 – Star Trek: Nemesis sees a rogue Romulan warlord target the Federation.
2380-2381 – Star Trek: Lower Decks
The precise placement of Star Trek: Lower Decks has often seemed a little uncertain, but that makes sense given this is a very different kind of Star Trek TV show – it’s an adult animation with a lot of humor. Set on the USS Cerritos, it focuses on the “lower decks” characters – the redshirts – rather than the bridge crew.
2383 – Star Trek: Prodigy
Another unique addition to the Star Trek mythos, Prodigy is a series that kicks off when a group of young aliens discover a lost Federation starship, the Protostar. The two seasons are now on Netflix.
2399-2401 – Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Picard picks up towards the end of the 24th century, exploring the fate of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his allies from the Next Generation era. It’s set in a galaxy that has been dramatically changed after the Romulan star went supernova, with Picard desperately trying to save as many lives as he could – and largely failing to make the changes he hoped for.
3188-3191 – Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3-5
Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 ended with the USS Discovery escaping into the distant future. Seasons 3 through to 5 are set in that future time, with the Discovery crew learning that a galactic disaster has crippled the Federation. They set about working to rebuild it.
The Kelvin Timeline
In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the entire Star Trek timeline through a smart technique; he rewrote history using time travel. The aforementioned Romulan supernova had resulted in a Romulan warlord named Nero traveling back through time, blaming the Federation for his planet’s fate, and he initiated what became known as the “Kelvin Timeline” due to an incident involving the USS Kelvin, the point where the timelines diverged. These three movies are:
- 2258 – Star Trek, with a prologue set in 2233 that creates the timeline.
- 2259 – Star Trek: Into Darkness, featuring an alternate version of Khan.
- 2263 – Star Trek Beyond, with Kirk taking on the villainous Krall.
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