This year is the 60th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise, and the franchise is celebrating it with a Starfleet Academy series that celebrates its history. Episode 5 was an unexpected delight for lovers of Deep Space Nine, because it focused on Avery Brooks’ Sisko in a delightful tribute. Titled “Series Acclimation Mil” after its starring character SAM, it saw the sentient AI try to figure out what it means to be an emissary for her people.
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SAM is part of a race unlike any others in Starfleet history; artificial intelligences who are also holographic beings, making her a fascinating foil for Robert Picardo’s Doctor, who serves as a mentor in Starfleet Academy. Fascinatingly, though, the introductory scenes of “Series Acclimation Mil” also answer a question viewers have wondered ever since Captain Kirk began to boldly go where no man has gone before; how many races are there in the Star Trek galaxy anyway?
Just How Many Races Are There in Star Trek?
The opening scenes of “Series Acclimation Mil” see SAM reflect on just how unique and unusual her situation is, and she does so by reflecting on the sheer size of the galaxy. According to SAM, by the late 32nd century Starfleet has encountered 4,633 sentient species, with over 37 trillion individuals. It’s unclear whether the count of individuals is current – that is to say, whether it represents the population of the galaxy at this point in the Star Trek timeline – but the number of alien races is quite striking.
By the time of Starfleet Academy, Starfleet has been expanding across the galaxy for literally centuries (albeit slowed down by a galactic catastrophe known as the Burn that led to 120 years of retreat). We’re all familiar with the exploratory expeditions of the USS Enterprise under Captain Kirk; how many others have there been like that? Meanwhile, the further corners of the galaxy have been visited by the likes of the Voyager crew, and Starfleet developed new technology to travel between the stars at speed. It’s reasonable to assume most notable species have, by now, been encountered.
Supporting this assumption, the cast of Starfleet Academy include several new races; this includes the Khionian Darem Reymi, who even possesses the ability to survive in space for a limited time. Genesis Lythe is the ambitious daughter of a Dar-Shan admiral, another brand new race. But just because they’re new to us, it doesn’t mean they are new to Starfleet. They were presumably encountered long ago, and appear in SAM’s logs among her count of alien races.
How Star Trek’s Population Compares To Star Wars
It’s naturally fascinating to compare the population of Star Trek with other rival science-fiction franchises. The most notable example is Star Wars, which is much more densely-populated than Star Trek‘s galaxy. According to the old Star Wars Expanded Universe (which, granted, is no longer considered canon), there are over 20 million sentient species in that particular franchise. Humans in Star Wars are concentrated towards the galaxy’s core, and several human-inhabited planets were key to establishing the Old Republic, explaining humanity’s dominance in the Republic. Palpatine’s Empire was deliberately human-centric, with prejudice towards aliens.
Something similar can be seen in Star Trek too, where the Federation itself was initially dominated by human interests. This is because humans were the ones who persuaded other races like the Vulcans to form an alliance in the first place, explaining why the Federation headquarters is traditionally on Earth. Starfleet Academy has changed everything for the Federation, with the Federation headquarters finally moving away from Earth and heading to Betazed. It signifies a major change for the Federation, one where humans are much less dominant.
No doubt the Star Trek galaxy will continue to grow with the discovery of yet more new alien races. Starfleet may have a military edge in Starfleet Academy, but exploration still lies at the heart of everything the Federation stands for, and we can expect many more missions that boldly go where no one has gone before. Starfleet honors explorers and leaders far more than it does any soldier, and that’s just the way it should be for this epic 60-year-old franchise.
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