Coridan The Coridans , also known as Coridanites , were a humanoid species from the dilithium - rich Federation planet , in the Alpha Quadrant . ( ; ; ) History . The Coridans traded with the Orion s for centuries prior to 2155 . ( ) In 2151 , Coridan had a population of three billion , with the majority living in several cities in the equator ial region . The capital city was surrounded by a shanty town , and there were almost as many bio - sign s outside the city as there were within it . The planet was known for having the largest shipyard s in its sector , building advanced warp - capable vessels , some of which were rumored to reach warp 7 . However , the planet was also embroiled in an internal conflict between the government , backed by the Vulcan High Command , and rebel forces , secretly supported by the Andorian Empire . The Vulcan agenda was to keep the planet ' s chancellorship stable while the Tau Ceti Accords prohibited any Andorian presence on the planet , which in turn assured Coridan ' s dilithium exports to . ( ) Chancellor Kalev invited Captain Jonathan Archer and T ' Pol of the to visit the planet , but they were captured by rebels and held for ransom . As a result , a commando force led by Sopek , the Vulcan senior officer of the sector , as well as the Andorian Imperial Guard , led by Shran , who was thereby violating the Tau Ceti Accords , came to assist the rescue . ( ) In 2152 , Coridans were represented at an Interspecies Medical Exchange conference on Dekendi III . At one point , the " Coridan Genome Conference " was rescheduled to 1400 hours and changed to auditorium six . This was announced on a speaker system inside the conference building . ( ) In 2155 , Coridan took part in talks on Earth to form a Coalition of Planets . Here , the Coridans rejected the Tellarite proposal of a trade embargo against the Orion Syndicate . The Coridan representative emphasized his people ' s long - standing trade relations with the Orions and claimed that the accusation of Orions attacking s was slander . ( ) The Babel Conference in 2268 was to consider whether to allow the Coridans admission into the United Federation of Planets . Coridan was considered underpopulated at that time , making the planet susceptible to illegal mining operations , e . g . , by the Orions . Federation members hip would provide the planet with protection under interstellar law . ( ; ) Mining operations were maintained there by the Orions and Tellarites , among others , a concern that led some to think they should be denied Federation membership . Despite the Orion Syndicate making an initial attempt to sabotage the Babel Conference , Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan spoke in favor of admittance , and was given credit for passage of the measure . Coridan joined the Federation that same year . ( ; ) In 2374 , during the Dominion War , Coridan ' s dilithium mines were attacked by the Jem ' Hadar , as they made the planet a strategically important target . ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to the script for , the pronunciation for Coridan was " CORE - ah - dan " . The appearance of the Coridans / Coridanites drastically changed from " Shadows of P ' Jem " to " Demons " , the species ' only two appearances . Also , the ambassador in " Demons " only mentions Coridan in passing , and he never identifies himself as Coridan , though the episode ' s script did . Apocrypha . In the " relaunch " novel " The Good That Men Do " , Coridan ( referred to as Coridan Prime ) is at the center of a major plot point in the story . The novel also reveals details hereto unresolved by canon productions . The physiological differences between the Coridanites depicted in " Shadows of P ' Jem " and those seen in " Demons " is attributed to a special diplomatic headdress worn by those seen in the latter episode . The novel describes the headdress as " a metallic material shaped into the stark features of a humanoid skull " with " overlapping bands of chitinous , lobster - colored fabric " that wraps around the cranium . The overall appearance is said to give the Coridan a vaguely crustacean appearance . Taking steps to explain Coridan ' s 23rd century population issues , the novel depicts 22nd century Coridan as a world rich in resources , on the verge of achieving warp 7 , and soon to be allied with the Coalition of Planets . To prevent such advances from spreading to other Coalition of Planets member worlds , the Romulan s launch a vicious attack on Coridan , flying a vessel into the planet at maximum warp . Anti - matter from the suicide attackers ' ship mixes with Coridan ' s abundance of dilithium , causing a fireball that spreads across the planet , killing billions . The planet ' s population is said to be further depleted by civil wars that continue after the Romulan attack . The reference book " The Worlds of the Federation " displays a profile of the Coridan system , showing Coridan III as the homeworld of the species , and four more planets as colonies , spreading the population thin over the entire system . Coridans were frequently targeted for raids by other species and the asteroid belt and ninth planet of the system were illegally mined by the Orions and the Tellarites . A profile picture of a Coridan male shows them to be human - like in appearance .