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STARFLEET PLANETARY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM |
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As in real astronomy, in the Star Trek world, Federation Starfleet labels planet types according to a letter nomenclature.
Planetary classes near the letter M are generally more likely to support life. The farther from the letter M, the less likely the planet is to support life as we know it.
| CLASS D | Class-D planets are small, rocky planetoids [Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan] such as the planet on which Tuvok, Paris and Noss are stranded within a gravity sinkhole in 2375 [#107 Gravity]. The ringed Saturn-like planet which Voyager's crew encounters in 2371 in [#9 Emanations] is described as a Class-D world, but that is a blooper as the term had previously been established in Star Trek to describe asteroids, and [DS9: Starship Down] further established Saturn to be a Class-J planet. 
Tuvok meets Noss, [Gravity]
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| CLASS H | Class-H planets are generally extremely dry, although sometimes habitable. Class-H planets can have an oxygen-argon atmosphere [#68 and #69 Scorpion]. [TNG: The Ensigns of Command] established that Class-H worlds can be bathed in lethal radiation. |
| CLASS J | Class-J planets are gas giants (or jovian planets) with turbulent atmospheres in which wind speeds of over 10,000 kilometres per hour are not unknown. Jupiter and Saturn are Class-J planets, established in [DS9: Starship Down]. The Delta Flyer's maiden voyage was into the atmosphere of a gas giant in order to retrieve Voyager's one and only mutispatial probe, [#97 Extreme Risk]. 
the Delta Flyer heads towards the gas giant, [Extreme Risk]
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| CLASS K | Class-K planets are unsuitable for humanoid life, even though their gravity fields can fall within Class-M norms. They can be adapted for humanoid life only with the use of pressure domes and life-support systems [TOS: I, Mudd]. |
| CLASS L | Class-L planets are generally small, rocky, terrestrial worlds with oxygen-argon atmospheres [#20 The 37's], and have relatively high concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, compared to a Class-M planet. Class-L worlds can sometimes support life, although this is often limited to plant forms. In in an eventually unrealised alternate future, USS Voyager crashes on a Class-L ice planet, killing all aboard [#100 Timeless]. In 2376 Kim and Torres spend time on a Class-L planet after the Delta Flyer crashes there [#142 Muse].  
Voyager crashlands, [Timeless]
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| CLASS M | | Class-M planets are small, rocky, terrestrial worlds with oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres, and are highly supportive of organic life. Earth and Vulcan are Class-M planets, [TOS: The Cage] [#1 and #2 Caretaker]. 
Tuvok hallucinates he is on Vulcan, [#24 Persistence Of Vision]
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Earth |
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| CLASS Y | Class-Y planets, sometimes called Demon-Class worlds, are extremely inhospitable to humanoids. Surface temperatures can exceed 500 Kelvins, with toxic atmospheres filled with thermionic radiation. It can be dangerous for a spaceship even to orbit a Class-Y planet. Voyager lands on a Class-Y planet in [#92 Demon]. A Class-Y planet is considered the ideal environment for holograms, [#155 and #156 Flesh And Blood].  
Voyager about to touch down on a Demon planet; members of the away team have to wear environmental suits, [Demon]
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Gene Roddenberry,
creator of Star Trek | Gene Roddenberry's original concept of Class-M planets were ones with Earth-Mars conditions but this has changed to Earthlike conditions. The Star Trek format calls for most stories to involve missions to Class-M planets, since showing non-Earthlike planets would be far more costly. While this is probably unrealistic from a scientific point of view, it is a key reason for making the production of Star Trek practical on a television budget. |
the STAR CHARTS section includes illustrated planetary classification and notes
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Thanks to Eos Development for the page background set from the collection Gothica. |
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