Throughout its nearly 60-year history, the various starships and crews of Star Trek have explored countless planets across the galaxy, but Jupiter remains a fascination despite its proximity to Earth. In the earliest days of Starfleet and the Federation, Jupiter often served as a reference point for test flights and starship missions. The first test vehicle to travel at Warp 2, the NX-Alpha, made it to Jupiter before its power systems overloaded and it exploded. The first Starfleet starbase, appropriately named Starbase 1, was located in Jupiter’s orbit and a shuttle route known as Jovian Run flew between Jupiter and Saturn every day.
Jupiter and its moons have played a role across multiple iterations of the Star Trek franchise. In J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, a secret Section 31 base orbited Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. Star Trek: Picard also heavily featured Jupiter and its moons, as Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell) participated in the historically significant Europa Mission in Picard season 2, and the Borg used Jupiter’s Eye as a hiding spot in Picard season 3. Even when Starfleet has expanded its reach to hundreds of planets throughout the galaxy, Jupiter and its moons still hold a certain allure.
Io Facility In Star Trek Into Darkness
In Star Trek Into Darkness, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) takes Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) into custody aboard the USS Enterprise. When questioned, Khan reveals the coordinates to a top-secret Section 31 construction hanger located in orbit around Io. Kirk asks Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) to investigate, and he discovers the massive Dreadnought-class starship USS Vengeance docked in the Io facility. Scotty then sneaks on board the Vengeance and proceeds to sabotage the ship.
Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) was secretly been the leader of Section 31 and had been using Khan to create new weapons in his scheme to militarize Starfleet. As head of Starfleet, Marcus covertly orchestrated a conspiracy to begin a war with the Klingons, believing a war was inevitable anyway. The Dreadnought starship built at Io Facility was not only the largest Starfleet ship to date but was also the only Starfleet ship to have been constructed solely for warfare. It had enhanced speed and weapons capabilities, and would have easily been able to destroy the Enterprise if not for Scotty’s sabotage.
Renée Picard’s Europa Mission In Star Trek: Picard Season 2
Jupiter became a significant element in the background of Star Trek: Picard season 2, as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew fought to ensure the success of a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Picard and his friends back to the 21st century to restore the timeline altered by Q (John de Lancie), and they encounter Jean-Luc’s ancestor, Dr. Renée Picard. A NASA astronaut, Renée is set to participate in a rapidly approaching mission to Europa that will alter the course of history. As Q and Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) attempt to prevent her from going on the mission, Picard and his friends work to ensure that the Europa launch succeeds.
Renée will become one of the earliest and most significant explorers of the solar system, and she will eventually discover a lifeform on Io that will change history for the better. The microorganism Renée discovers will be used to reverse the effects of pollution and climate change, ushering in a much brighter future for Earth and the galaxy. If Renée did not participate in the Europa mission and thus did not discover the microorganism on Io, humanity would have turned to Dr. Soong. This would have eventually led to the tyrannical and xenophobic Confederation of Earth, which represents the opposite of everything celebrated by the Federation.
The Borg Hid In The Eye of Jupiter In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Star Trek: Picard season 3 sees Admiral Picard and the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew reunite on the rebuilt USS Enterprise-D. Throughout Picard season 3, Jean-Luc’s son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) struggles with strange visions. After the revelation that Jack was born with organic Borg DNA inherited from Picard, he rushes off to confront the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). This brings Jack to Jupiter where a Borg Cube hides in Jupiter’s Eye. After assimilating Jack to Vox of Borg, the Queen uses him to transmit the signal that will trigger the assimilation of every Starfleet officer under the age of 25.
As the Borg/Changeling plot comes to fruition on Frontier Day, the Enterprise-D stands as one of the only ships that remains unassimilated by the Borg. Admiral Picard and his crew work to save the galaxy yet again, as they take on the Borg cube that is broadcasting to all the newly-assimilated Borg drones. When Data (Brent Spiner) scans for the cube, he finds it hiding in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. The swirling red clouds of Jupiter’s eye provide a dramatic backdrop for the Borg cube’s battle with the Enterprise and contrast nicely with the green and grey of the ships. With its instantly recognizable look and status as the largest planet in our solar system, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Star Trek seems to have a particular fascination with Jupiter.
