Top 5 fastest Federation starships in Star Trek

Part of the Star Trek canon is the directive for starships to carry out missions in and around various quadrants of the galaxy. To propel Federation starship across the galaxy at speeds faster than light speed, typically requires a warp field (surrounding the vessel) that is a distortion of space-time which enables it to “warp” the fabric of space-time.

The warp field is generated in a warp drive, which contains the warp field. The warp drive encompasses a matter-antimatter reactor, warp coils, and a dilithium crystal matrix, where dilithium is the energy source that regulates the matter-antimatter reaction.

In canon, Warp factor 1 is equivalent to the speed of light and Warp factor 2 and greater is beyond the speed of light with a theoretical maximum of Warp factor 10. Warp factor 10 can be described as infinite velocity where objects can occupy every point in space-time simultaneously.

Star Trek canon has a variety of vessels, shuttles, and starships capable of speeds well beyond light speed that may accomplish Warp factors well beyond Warp 1 regardless of the energy source – albeit dilithium crystals or otherwise. With a baseline of variant energy sources, let’s consider the top 5 fastest Federation starships in Star Trek canon.

#5 – Starship USS Prometheus (Star Trek: Voyager) – Warp factor 9.9

After enhancing Voyager's isometric system to tap into an alien Hirogin communications network in (S3 E14 "Message in a bottle"), Seven of Nine (60 light-years away in the Delta Quadrant) locates a Starfleet starship - the USS Prometheus. The Prometheus was found in the Alpha Quadrant, during the Dominion Wars, while being commandeered by the Romulans who killed the entire Starfleet crew. The Prometheus is an experimental Prometheus-class prototype equipped with a multi-vector assault mode that enables the starship to decouple into three separate vessels. At a known maximum speed of Warp factor 9.9, the Prometheus is the 5th fastest starship in the Federation.

#4 – Starship USS Voyager (Star Trek: Voyager) – Warp factor 9.975+

The USS Voyager of Star Trek: Voyager is an Intrepid-class starship that was thrust, by a polarized magnetic wave (by the Caretaker), into the Delta Quadrant - some 70,000+ light years from the Alpha Quadrant. Voyager is equipped with bio-neural circuitry that responds faster than the traditional Starfleet circuitry and has 15 decks and a crew of 150. In S1 E1 “Caretaker”, Betazoid Lt. Stadi tells Commander Paris that Voyager is capable of speeds up to Warp factor 9.975, making it the 4th fastest starship in the Federation. Additionally, in S7 E25,26 “Endgame” the crew of Voyager utilized a Borg transwarp conduit to accelerate Voyager’s speed to an unknown point beyond Warp factor 9.975+ to greatly shorten their travel back to the Alpha Quadrant.

#3 – Starship USS Enterprise-E (Star Trek: First Contact) – Warp factor 9.985

Enterprise-E commanded by the crew of TNG debuted in Star Trek: First Contact. This Sovereign-class starship was pulled into an Earth-bound temporal anomaly while battling the Borg in “First Contact”. The Borg intent was to head back in time to the 20th Century to stop the Vulcan's first contact with Earth in 2063. Although during “First Contact”, Enterprise-E did not reach its maximum Warp capabilities; however, according to Memory Alpha, it can reach a maximum of Warp factor 9.985. At Warp factor 9.985, that ranks Enterprise-E as the 3rd fastest starship in the Federation.

#2 – Starship USS Enterprise-A (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) – Warp factor 9.99

The Enterprise-A, featured in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, is a Constitution-class starship that was rebuilt after being destroyed in Star Trek III. The crew of the TOS, now older, are on a mission to travel back in time to 20th Century Earth, to find a living Humpback whale that will be extinct by the end of the 20th Century. The crew must bring a live whale back to 23rd Century Earth in an attempt to communicate with an alien probe that is destroying the Earth’s oceans in its search to communicate with a (now extinct) Humpback whale. Enterprise-A is the 2nd fastest starship in the Federation with a modified Warp drive (by Spock), to reach speeds of Warp factor 9.99 to slingshot around the Sun and travel back in time to 1980s Earth.

#1 – Starship USS Discovery (Star Trek: Discovery) – Warp factor 10

The Discovery of Star Trek: Discovery is a Crossfield-class starship that has an experimental spore drive known as a “Displacement-Activated Spore Hub Drive” that propels the vessel through a subspace domain in space-time called a mycelial network. Initially, the Discovery utilized a giant Tardigrade creature to navigate the mycelial network; however, because the crew did not want to essentially enslave and harm the creature – Lt. Paul Stamets became the navigator and interfaced the mycelial network with the use of a biological implant. At theoretical Warp factor 10, Discovery is the fastest Federation starship that can almost instantaneously appear at any point in the galaxy through the navigation of an expansive galactic mycelial network.