Earth Outpost Station

Outpost 4 (2259)

The Earth Outpost Stations were a series of outposts constructed on asteroids located in Sector Z-6 of the Beta Quadrant, and in neighboring sectors, along the Federation side of the Romulan Neutral Zone. They were established by a treaty after the Earth-Romulan War of the 2160s, which allowed United Earth, and subsequently the Federation, to monitor its side of the Neutral Zone. (TOS: "Balance of Terror"; SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")

In 2259, the location of Outposts Outpost 1 to 7 was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the USS Enterprise's ready room viewscreen. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")

Thet same year, the Enterprise and the USS Cayuga assisted the outposts in their retrofitting and brought them supplies. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")

In 2266, four of the eight outposts came under attack from a powerful plasma weapon used by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey; this sneak attack completely destroyed outposts 2, 3, 4, and 8. These outposts had been rebuilt by 2366. (TOS: "Balance of Terror"; TNG: "The Defector")

Nearly a century later, a border outpost reported seven Romulan battle cruisers had come within its sensor range – a violation of the Treaty and even a potential prelude to an attack. The outpost sent out a distress call, to which the nearby USS Berlin responded. Starfleet also requested that the USS Enterprise-D join the Berlin to project a deterring show of force against the Romulans – which was also a necessary tactical move to ensure that, should a conflict erupt, the Romulans would not have the advantage. Nothing came of this, and the Romulans chose not to engage or even communicate with Starfleet until later that year. (TNG: "Angel One", "The Neutral Zone")

In 2366, the location of four of these outposts were labeled on a Starfleet tactical intelligence analysis map. (TNG: "The Defector")

By 2367, the Neutral Zone outposts had expanded in number, possibly to as many as twenty-three (see Outpost 23). Additional outposts in the region included Outpost Sierra VI. (TNG: "The Defector", "Future Imperfect")

In the early 25th century, the position of these stations was labeled on a star chart used by Captain William T. Riker during his attempt at finding the last known location of the SS Eleos XII. (PIC: "The Next Generation")

The location of Earth Outposts 1 to 7 labeled on a star chart (2259)

A partial map of Earth Outpost Stations along the Romulan Neutral Zone (2266)

Outposts 3 to 6 on a Starfleet Tactical Intelligence Analysis (2366)

Background information

The revised final draft script of "Balance of Terror" requested that Earth Outposts 1 to 11 be shown in a star chart which appears in that installment, though only Outposts 1 to 7 are shown in the final version of that display.

While Earth Outpost 23 does not appear in the star chart, there may have been up to twenty-three Earth Outposts established along the Romulan Neutral Zone by 2160. (Star Trek: Star Charts, p. 66)

An okudagram map seen in Starlog Press publication The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine depicted a portion of the Romulan Neutral Zone. On the map, the locations of Outposts 1-7 were depicted in Federation space. Outposts 41 and 42 were depicted in space claimed by the Klingon Empire. [1]

These stations' quadrant of origin is inferred based on the position of the Nelvana system as seen in the star chart appearing in the Star Trek: Picard episode "Maps and Legends".

External link

• Earth Outpost Station at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works