Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri was an inhabited planet ary system . Located approximately four light year s from Sol , this was a trinary system of three star s – Alpha Centauri A , Alpha Centauri B , and Alpha Centauri C . ( " " ) Location . In 2293 , the location of Alpha Centauri in the Milky Way Galaxy was labeled in the star chart " The Explored Galaxy " , which was on display in Captain James T . Kirk ' s quarters aboard the . ( , okudagram ) In 2364 , the location of Alpha Centauri was named in a star chart of a stellar neighborhood with Sol at the center . This chart was stored in the library computer . Later that year , the chart was scanned by Outpost 63 . ( , " production art " ) History . When Kirk was captured in 1969 on Earth , and questioned on who he was by Lieutenant Colonel Fellini , a member of the US Air Force Air Police at the US 498th Airbase Group , Kirk explained that " " the truth is , I ' m a little green man from Alpha Centauri , a beautiful place . You ought to see it . " " ( ) Between 2078 and 2119 , Human s founded an outpost on the planet . Among its residents in this formative period was Zefram Cochrane , who moved to the system from Earth after 2069 . He left the system circa 2119 for an unknown destination . Prior to 2124 , Alpha Centauri City was founded . ( ; , " display graphic " ; ) Alpha Centauri was among the earliest systems to be colonized by Humans in the early space explorations . The other known systems included Terra Nova ' s system and Vega ' s system . ( ) " In an alternate timeline , created by Jonathan Archer being infected by interspatial parasite s , the Xindi destroy Earth in 2154 and then all other Human settlements , including Mars , Alpha Centauri , and Vega colony . " ( ) Prior to the 2260 s , the University of Alpha Centauri was founded in this system . ( ) In 2268 , Kirk argued in favor of having Sargon and his companions take over the bodies of the crew , and emphasized the benefits that it might possibly have on mankind , he explained , " " they used to say if man could fly , he ' d have wings . But he did fly . He discovered he had to . Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn ' t reached the moon or that we hadn ' t gone on to Mars or the nearest star ? " " ( ) In 2338 , Starfleet science officer Greta Vanderweg was born in the Alpha Centauri system . ( ) In the mid - 24th century , Dr . Leah Brahms resided in this system . She was a student at the University of Alpha Centauri and graduated from this university with a Bachelor of Science in Subspace Physics , " cum laude " . ( , " okudagram " ) In 2365 , after Doctor Katherine Pulaski was abducted by , Geordi La Forge believed she planned to " " lead Data on a wild goose chase and then recount the story to everyone between here and Alpha Centauri . " " ( ) After the Dominion invaded and conquered Betazed in 2374 , they were in a position to threaten , Andor , Tellar , and Alpha Centauri . ( ) Alternate timelines . In an alternate timeline , the Xindi destroyed all Human outposts they could find , after destroying Earth , including the ones located on Mars , Alpha Centauri and the Vega colony in 2154 . ( ) In another alternate timeline caused by the death of Gabriel Bell in 2024 , Romulan transmissions were detected in the vicinity of Alpha Centauri in 2371 . ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to and the , Alpha Centauri ( Proxima ) was located about 4 . 3 light years from Sol . According to " Star Fleet Technical Manual " , the Concordium of Planets , located in the Alpha Centauri system , was a founding member of the United Federation of Planets . According to " The Worlds of the Federation " , the seventh planet in the system was the homeworld of a group of Humans , called Centaurians . Evidence was found that they were in fact originally Greek s transplanted to the planet in the 3rd century BC . The association of Alpha Centauri as the fifth founding member was also referenced in the " It ' s Federation Day ! " newspaper article , created as background material for . According to that article , Alpha Centauri had recently gained its independence . Titus Oleet , who signed the founding document of the Federation , was the system ' s ambassador . According to " " ( pp . 19 , 45 , & 56 ; " United Federation of Planets IV " ) and " " ' ( " Federation Historical Highlights , 2161 - 2385 " ) , the Alpha Centauri system , consisting of Alpha Centauri A ( a ) and Alpha Centauri B ( a K - class star ) , was located in the Alpha Centauri sector ( Sector 002 ) , a region of space in the Beta Quadrant . In 2120 , Zefram Cochrane departed from the Alpha Centauri colony on his final voyage . In the 22nd century , this colony was a destination on the Earth trade routes and traded with Earth and . Alpha Centauri became a Federation founding member in 2161 . The chart naming stars within twenty light years of Sol was originally drawn by Rick Sternbach for the " Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology " ( p . 77 ) in the late 1970s . This chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes after the use of warp drive began . Alpha Centauri was the terminus for two major commercial routes , Epsilon Eridani - Alpha Centauri and Sol - Alpha Centauri . Alpha Centauri was misspelled as " Alpha Centuri " in the " The Explored Galaxy " star chart graphic seen in " Star Trek : The Undiscovered Country " . In the real world , in 2012 , astronomers announced the discovery of . This extrasolar planet , unconfirmed as of 2014 , might be a Earth - size terrestrial planet . Attempts to locate other planets in the Alpha Centauri system have been , to date , unsuccessful . Apocrypha . The novel " Articles of the Federation " also established that Alpha Centauri was the fifth founding member of the Federation , along with Earth , Vulcan , Andoria , and Tellar . William Shatner ' s " " ( " Spectre " , " Dark Victory " , and " Preserver " ) suggested that Zefram Cochrane lived on Alpha Centauri IV ; likewise , lived on the mirror Alpha Centauri IV . Spock and compared and contrasted the histories of the two universes and realized that the differences in the naming a lake on the planet ( Lake Sloane in the primary universe , Lake Riker in the mirror universe ) suggested that first contact may have been the point of divergence between the universes and that the divergence may have been caused by the presence of the Borg and the , a possibility disproved by . According to the PC CD - ROM game " " , the 2160s - era Cochrane - 500 Fusion Drive was manufactured on Alpha Centauri . These engines were well made and still in use a century later . In the FASA the Alpha Centaurians were the first extraterrestrial civilization Humans encounter . The historic meeting occurred in 2042 when the Earth ' s United Nations space craft , the UNSS " Icarus " , utilizing a Bussard collector , arrived in the Alpha Centauri system . In 2048 , Zefram Cochrane , an Alpha Centarian , sent his warp drive discovery to Earth . This contrasts with " Star Trek " canon material , which establishes that Cochrane was an Earth - born Human . Like in the FASA game , the Last Unicorn role playing game , and the Decipher RPG , Alpha Centauri was already inhabited by a humanoid species when Terran explorers first ventured there in 2066 . The Terrans traded their warp drive technology for Centaurian terraforming technology , to repair Earth ' s shattered ecosystem in the aftermath of World War III .