Every Starship Enterprise & Discovery Saucer Separation In Star Trek

In extreme circumstances, Star Trek's starship Enterprise and USS Discovery can carry out a saucer separation for both tactical and emergency purposes. The Enterprise's first saucer separation maneuver was seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint", and though used sparingly, it wouldn't be the last time that Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) gave such a command. While the TNG version of the starship Enterprise was the first to use the saucer separation, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) theorized a similar "nacelle removal" maneuver was possible in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Apple".

During a saucer separation, a full-evacuation of non-essential personnel would be conducted as the senior staff made their way to the battle bridge, located in the starship's drive section. Once preparations were complete, the docking clamps would retract, separating the saucer section from the ship's primary hull. The concept of a saucer separation in Star Trek had been under consideration since early production on the abandoned Star Trek: Planet of the Titans movie. However, to date, the USS Enterprise-D is the only ship from Star Trek's prime timeline to conduct a saucer separation, but the Kelvin Timeline's USS Enterprise, and Star Trek: Discovery's hero ship have similar abilities.

6 The Enterprise-D Separated To Avoid Q's Forcefield

Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1, episode 1, "Encounter at Farpoint"

After a less than cordial first meeting with Q (John de Lancie), the crew of the USS Enterprise-D attempted to outrun the cosmic trickster by fleeing his forcefield. Q's forcefield gave chase, which forced Picard to order a saucer separation to protect the innocent lives of the many civilians aboard the Enterprise. Picard put Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) in charge of the saucer section until the crisis was over. Despite trying to outrun Q from the Enterprise-D's stardrive section from the battle bridge, Picard and his senior staff soon found themselves in Q's courtroom.

After Q agrees to let Picard prove that human beings are not savages, the two halves of the starship Enterprise are reunited in orbit above the planet Deneb IV. The remainder of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast are introduced at Farpoint Station, too. One of Picard's first orders to his number one, Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is to conduct a manual docking of the Enterprise's stardrive and saucer sections.

5 Geordi Ordered A Saucer Separation Above Minos

Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1, episode 21, "The Arsenal of Freedom"

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 20, "Heart of Glory", two Klingon warriors plotted to hijack the Enterprise by conducting an illegal saucer section. They were foiled in their plans by Lt. Worf, who chose his Starfleet colleagues over his fellow Klingons. In the following episode, "The Arsenal of Freedom", the Enterprise did conduct a saucer separation, ordered by Lt. Geordi La Forge. Geordi was placed in temporary command of the Enterprise while Picard and Riker's away team were pinned down by an automated weapons system on the planet Minos.

The Enterprise's chief engineer, Lt. Commander Logan (Vyto Ruginis) objected to Geordi's plan to stay and rescue the away team, and tried to pull rank. Geordi stood his ground and reminded Logan that only Picard or Riker could relieve him of command. Later, when preparations for the saucer separation were underway, Geordi ordered Logan to take command of the saucer, and pilot it to Starbase 103. After Picard, Riker, and the away team were rescued, the Enterprise captain allowed Geordi to remain in command until he had reconnected the stardrive with the saucer section.

4 Riker Used A Saucer Separation To Rescue Picard

Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4, episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"

The USS Enterprise-D carried out a saucer separation during the epic Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter, "The Best of Both Worlds". Commander Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy) suggested to Captain Picard and Commander Riker that a saucer separation could create a significant distraction in encounters with the Borg Collective. Riker opposed the strategy because he felt that it would take away valuable resources during a battle, namely the power used by the saucer's impulse engines. However, Riker and Shelby later had cause to revisit this strategy once Picard was captured by the Borg.

Riker knew that Locutus of Borg would retain the tactical information held in Picard's brain, so he used it to the Enterprise's advantage. Riker ordered the USS Enterprise-D to engage the Borg Cube, and initiated a saucer separation. Picard's knowledge of the saucer separation maneuver meant that the Borg directly engaged the stardrive section and ignored the saucer for long enough that it could launch a shuttle craft which contained a rescue team. The distraction enabled Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Lt. Worf to beam aboard the cube and capture Locutus, giving Starfleet a huge tactical advantage.

3 Escaping A Catastrophic Warp Core Breach In The Enterprise-D's Saucer

Star Trek Generations

There were a handful of attempted saucer separations between "The Best of Both Worlds" and the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they were abandoned due to their dangerous implications. The Enterprise-D's next saucer separation was also its last, as it was necessitated by a catastrophic warp core breach in the stardrive section. In Star Trek Generations, the Enterprise was ambushed by the Duras sisters in the Veridian system, causing severe damage to the ship, resulting in a coolant leak in the warp containment system. With the drive section compromised, Commander Riker ordered a full evacuation of personnel to the Enterprise's saucer section.

The starship Enterprise's saucer section made it to relative safety before the stardrive section exploded. However, the shockwave of the explosion knocked the saucer out of orbit, sending what was left of the Enterprise-D hurtling toward the surface of Veridian III. The crew made a crash landing, but the damage to the Enterprise's saucer was so extensive that the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew needed a new starship by the end of Star Trek Generations.

2 Saucer Separation During Krall's Attack On The Enterprise

Star Trek Beyond

The idea of Kirk's Enterprise having the ability to separate the saucer was first mooted by legendary Star Wars designer Ralph McQuarrie for the abandoned movie, Star Trek: Planet of the Titans. However, it wouldn't become a reality until 2016's Star Trek Beyond, when Chris Pine's Captain Kirk ordered a saucer separation maneuver while under attack from Krall (Idris Elba) and his swarm ships. The Enterprise was devastated by the onslaught, losing the warp nacelles and the majority of its secondary hull. In a desperate attempt to restore power to the impulse engines, Kirk tried to initiate a saucer separation but was interrupted by Krall.

Lt. Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) finished the sequence for Kirk, and separated the saucer from what was left of the Enterprise's hull. However, much like the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek Generations, it was completed too late to make any difference. With the starship Enterprise's saucer caught in the gravitational pull of the planet Altamid, it crashed on to the surface, damaged beyond repair. The saucer separation and Enterprise crash landing was a thrilling start to the third and, to date, last Chris Pine Star Trek movie.

1 The USS Discovery Used A Saucer Separation To Beat The Breen

Star Trek: Discovery, Season 5, Episode 10, "Life, Itself"

The USS Discovery is the only other Star Trek hero ship to pull off a successful saucer separation, but it took five seasons before it happened. In the Star Trek: Discovery finale, "Life, Itself", Discovery's crew was desperately trying to protect the Progenitors' treasure from the Breen Imperium. With the Breen closing on Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the portal to the treasure, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) had the idea to use Discovery's spore drive against the Breen.

Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) theorized that it would be possible to use the spore drive to jump the Breen away from the USS Discovery. To do this, they had to initiate a saucer separation that would create two poles. When Stamets activated the spore drive, whatever was between these two poles would "jump" to the location of Discovery's choosing. Positioning the Breen dreadnought between the two halves of Discovery, the spore drive sent the Breen to the Galactic Barrier, from which they'd have a long trip home.

The USS Discovery's saucer separation could change the game for Starfleet ships going forward. For decades, saucer separations were largely seen as solely a feature of the 24th century's Galaxy-class starships, but Star Trek: Discovery's finale proves that isn't the case. With Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 on the way, it remains to be seen if other starships will find that they too can pull off a saucer separation when extreme measures are called for. After all, when used sparingly, a Star Trek saucer separation can be a thrilling maneuver.