Asteroid belt An asteroid belt or asteroid field is a collection of asteroid s that usually orbit a star in a roughly toroidal shape . Asteroids in such belts range from grain - sized to many kilometer s in diameter . Asteroid fields contain space debris and are usually the remains of a planet ' s destruction . Classification . Around the late 23rd century , asteroid belts were quantified by their Shiller rating . In 2266 , the pursued an unregistered J class cargo vessel into an asteroid belt with a Shiller rating of three - five . ( ) Asteroids in belts also have size and atmosphere type classifications . In 2267 , shuttlecraft " " for example entered an asteroid belt consisting of 7 , 000 bodies of sizes running from types A to N , thirty - four percent of which had atmospheres of types H to M . ( ) Asteroid belt locations and incidents . The maiden voyage of the took the vessel through the asteroid belt of the Terran system with a course beyond Pluto before returning to spacedock . They soon intercepted a distress call from the transport ship " Lakul " and moved to intercept . ( ) Ty ' Gokor was located in an asteroid field deep in the Klingon Empire . A tachyon detection grid monitored the region and helped protect it from direct assault . ( ) During the Federation - Tzenkethi War , the was attacked by three Tzenkethi raider s , which then fled into an asteroid belt . Captain Leyton took the " Okinawa " in after them , despite the protestations of Benjamin Sisko . ( ) In 2366 , the searched the remains of Orelious IX , which was nothing more than an asteroid field . Within the asteroid field , they discovered an intact 14th century Promellian battle cruiser but also found an ancient booby trap that almost destroyed them . ( ) In 2367 , the " Enterprise " - D returned the space - dwelling lifeform known only as " " to an asteroid field near the Alpha Omicron system . ( ) In 2370 , the " Enterprise " - D entered the asteroid field in the Devolin system , under orders from Starfleet Command and Rear Admiral Erik Pressman , on a salvage mission to recover the remains of the . ( ; ) Major Kira Nerys , Doctor Julian Bashir , and Keiko O ' Brien took the into an asteroid field in the Gamma Quadrant in late 2372 . They were almost clear when an asteroid hit their Runabout , which destroyed a fuel pod . Kira and Bashir recalled the incident several weeks later . ( ) In 2372 , the surveyed an asteroid field in the Delta Quadrant and discovered a new type of dilithium that remained stable at high warp frequencies . ( ) The conducted maneuver s in an asteroid belt in the Kar - telos system in 2372 . ( ) In 2373 , before General Martok ' s captaincy of the starship , the trapped a Cardassian vessel between itself and an asteroid field . Three Jem ' Hadar warships came out of the asteroid field , forced the " Rotarran " to withdraw , and saved the Cardassian s . ( ) In 2374 , a Species 8472 bio - ship fled into an asteroid belt while being pursued by a Hirogen warship . The Alpha Hirogen believed the pilot of the bio - ship was not attempting to hide but was instead preparing for a final stand . ( ) Also in 2374 , the Runabout managed to avoid Dominion detection arrays while " en route " to Soukara by approaching the planet through an asteroid field . ( ) In 2375 , the USS " Voyager " located what Lieutenant Tom Paris believed to be an asteroid cluster . Closer scrutiny revealed it was actually a Borg debris field . ( ) In 2378 and before the USS " Voyager " s return to Earth , it dropped off Neelix in a resource - rich asteroid field . The field also contained an asteroid that was home to a distant Talaxian colony . Alien miner s planned to harvest the ore of the Talaxians ' asteroid , which would render it uninhabitable . By helping erect shield generator s , Neelix prevented the bellicose miners from destroying the asteroid - colony and saved his fellow Talaxians . ( )