Warp drive Warp drive was a technology that allowed space travel at faster - than - light speeds . It worked by generating warp field s to form a subspace bubble that enveloped the starship , distorting the local spacetime continuum and moving the starship at velocities that could greatly exceed the speed of light . These velocities were referred to as warp factor s . Warp drive was the most common form of interstellar propulsion used in the Milky Way Galaxy , making interstellar exploration , commerce , and warfare ; essentially Interstellar civilization possible . By the 24th century , warp was the primary means of interstellar transport , but scientists from various cultures were pursuing various alternative propulsion methods that were hypothetically faster or more efficient . Etymology . In 2063 , the term " warp drive " was already used by Zefram Cochrane of his engine on the " Phoenix " . However , Cochrane used the term " space warp generator " in the monitor displays on his spacecraft ( ) . Even as late as the 2150s , the warp five engine was still officially known as a " gravimetric field displacement manifold " ( ) . Most cultures throughout the Milky Way Galaxy used the term " warp drive " and by the late - 23rd century it was the most common term used by the Federation as well ( , et al . ) . In the 2250s the term " hyperdrive " was used by Starfleet ( ) and the Ferengi occasionally used the term " lightspeed drive " ( ) . Space warp was one of the vocabulary words listed on the chart " A Tunnel in the Sky " . This chart was seen in the schoolroom aboard Deep Space 9 in 2369 . ( ) Technology . 24th century Federation warp engines were fueled by the reaction of matter ( deuterium ) and antimatter ( antideuterium ) , mediated through an assembly of dilithium crystals , which were nonreactive with antimatter when subjected to high - frequency electromagnetic field s . This reaction produced a highly energetic plasma , called electro - plasma or warp plasma , which was channeled by plasma conduit s through the electro - plasma system ( EPS ) ; that system also provided the primary energy supply for the ships other electronic systems . For propulsion the electro - plasma was funneled by plasma injector s into a series of warp field coils , usually located in remote warp nacelle s . These coils were composed of verterium cortenide and generated the warp field . Other civilizations used different power sources , such as the Romulan s ' use of artificial quantum singularities to power their warp drives , but the basic process was similar . In some vessels , such as the , the nacelles were mounted on variable geometry pylon s . Development . Warp drive and other faster - than - light ( FTL ) propulsion technologies were the linchpin of an interstellar civilization , making trade and exploration across vast interstellar distances viable . Without these technologies , these distances could not be crossed in any reasonable period of time , making interstellar civilization usually limited to a single sector . ( ) To put this in perspective , planet s that were years away with impulse speeds could be reached in days with ships equipped with warp drive . ( ) Cultures in the galaxy discovered warp drive at their own pace and rate of development , as most of the cultures had to do . The Vulcan s were an interstellar civilization by 9th century BC and had reached the level of warp 7 by 2151 . ( ; ) Klingon s had interstellar travel capability around the time of Kahless in the 9th century . They had achieved the capability of warp 6 by 2151 . ( ; ; ; ) Romulan s were once considered a group of thugs and warp drive was regarded as the key technology that allowed the founding of the Romulan Star Empire . ( ) The Vissian s developed warp drive around the 12th century . ( ) The Borg in the Delta Quadrant began to establish their interstellar collective by the 15th century . ( ) However , it was the rapid progress of Human ity which led to the wide - scale exploration of the galaxy and the formation of the United Federation of Planets . The development of the warp drive was recognized by the United Federation of Planets as the marker of an advanced society . It was only after a people developed warp drive that the Federation made contact , as codified in the Prime Directive . ( ) A warp capable society was deemed technically and psychologically ready to embrace the universe at large . 21st century . On Earth , warp drive was initially developed by Zefram Cochrane , in the period following World War III . ( ) The spacecraft credited with discovering the space warp phenomenon was the " Bonaventure " ( C1 - 21 ) . ( , " production art " ) Despite the hardships imposed by the war ' s aftermath and the lack of advanced materials , Cochrane was able to build a manned warp - capable vessel using a converted Titan II missile . The successful first flight of his ship – the " Phoenix " – took place on April 5 , 2063 , and drew the attention of a Vulcan exploratory vessel , leading to the event known as First Contact . ( ) The " Bonaventure " ( 10281NCC ) then became the first deep - space starship to have warp drive installed . ( ) 22nd century . Development of warp technology proceeded slowly over the next eighty years , after the flight of the " Phoenix " – due , in no small part , to the cautious advice of the Vulcans – and it was not until the 2140s that a warp engine developed by Henry Archer at the Warp Five Complex could exceed warp factor 2 . This engine was successfully tested in the second NX prototype by Commanders A . G . Robinson and Jonathan Archer to a speed of warp 2 . 5 , breaking the so - called " warp 2 barrier " in 2143 . Eight months later , Duvall achieved warp 3 with the NX Delta . Warp 4 would be first achieved by the " Franklin . ( ; ) By the year 2149 , warp technology was sufficiently advanced to begin the construction of , a vessel capable of warp 5 and launched in 2151 . ( ) Although " Enterprise " was at first unable to fully realize this potential ( maxing out at warp 4 . 7 ) , the starship finally reached warp 5 on February 9 , 2152 . ( ) By 2161 , Starfleet warp drive technology had achieved the capability to reach warp 7 , and these engines were being built into the latest class of Starfleet vessels as the NX class were being decommissioned . ( ) 23rd century . Development and improvement of warp drive continued apace , and by the 2240s , Starfleet vessels of the had standard cruising speeds of warp 6 and emergency speeds as high as warp 8 ( although under the right conditions , the engines could reach warp 9 ) . These ships took advantage of a major breakthrough in warp technology that took place between 2236 and 2254 , the breaking of the so - called " time barrier " . ( ) Higher warp factors continued to be reached , mostly through alien intervention , or dangerous malfunction . The was modified by the Kelvan s to maintain a speed of warp 11 in 2268 . Later that year , the " Enterprise " accelerated to a speed of warp factor 14 . 1 , after being sabotaged by a Kalandan planetary defense system . At that velocity , however , the ship came within moments of destroying itself . ( ) At around the same time , warp engines were being redesigned to allow standard speeds of warp 8 and above . During the refit of the " Constitution " - class , the cylindrical - shaped nacelles were replaced with a new flattened design . ( ) Warp theory continued to advance with the development of the first transwarp drive engines in the mid - 2280s , which would have theoretically allowed greater efficiency and any warp speed to be available for a ship . However , the transwarp experiment of ended in failure , and the technology was abandoned at that time . The " Excelsior " itself was deemed spaceworthy , retrofitted with conventional warp drive and commissioned as NCC - 2000 under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu . ( ; ; ) 24th century . At some point in the 24th century , a new warp factor scale came into use , which placed warp 10 as a theoretical maximum . ( ) By the time the starship was being designed in the 2360s , warp technology had progressed to the point where speeds of warp 9 . 6 could be sustained for up to twelve hours , although warp 9 . 2 was considered the " red line . " ( ) The was capable of a top cruising speed of warp 9 . 975 . ( ) The was capable of a sustained cruising speed of warp 9 . 9 . ( ) In 2370 , the Hekaran scientist Serova discovered that the use of conventional warp engines caused damage to the fabric of spacetime . The Federation Council imposed a speed limit of warp factor 5 on all Federation vessels in all but extreme emergency cases , such as medical emergencies . ( ) It was not until 2372 , that the transwarp threshold was broken by the Federation . Tom Paris of the managed to achieve infinite velocity on the shuttlecraft " " . However , this form of travel was found to have severe , unanticipated side effects . ( ) . . . and beyond . In what was originally the future which was observed and altered by Jean - Luc Picard , speeds of at least warp 13 were possible . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Gene Roddenberry originally intended the " Enterprise " to become transparent while in warp drive , as depicted in ( later reformatted into the two - part " The Menagerie " ) . The idea was that the ship would be traveling faster than light , which means that light would not reach it , rendering the vessel invisible to the naked eye . However , according to Einstein ' s Theory of Special Relativity , the speed of light is a constant from any frame of reference ; an observer moving at close to " c " would still observe light moving toward him and away from him at " c . "