Delta Quadrant
The Delta Quadrant is the common designation for one-quarter of the Milky Way Galaxy. Its boundary is defined by a meridian passing through the galactic core and the Sol System, and a second meridian 90° perpendicular at the core. Its closest point to Earth is located approximately 30,000 light years away.
The Crux Arm of the galaxy is located in that quadrant, as are the stars or star clusters M14 and M80. (Star Trek: Voyager background graphic)
It was first visited by Humans on stardate 32629.4, when the USS Raven followed a Borg vessel into a transwarp conduit. (VOY: "Dark Frontier") The first Starfleet mission into the Delta Quadrant occurred during an inspection of the Barzan wormhole in 2366. (TNG: "The Price")
Due to the immense distance between the Alpha and Delta Quadrants (an Intrepid-class starship would take 30 years to reach the edges of the quadrant at its maximum warp velocity), the Federation knew very little about this region of space until 2371, when the starship USS Voyager was pulled into the quadrant by an alien force called the Caretaker. When contact was reestablished with the starship in 2374, hundreds of kiloquads of data on the region was received, increasing the Federation's knowledge of the quadrant immensely.
When Q discovered Voyager, he assumed Quinn was responsible for transporting it there, stating that Humans weren't supposed to be in the Delta Quadrant for another 100 years. (VOY: "Death Wish")
When Voyager returned to Earth from the Borg transwarp network in 2378, the Federation's knowledge of the quadrant was further expanded considerably. (VOY: "Endgame")
24th century political makeup
The major power in the Delta Quadrant, until at least 2378, was the Borg Collective. In addition to a vast swath of territory which they had completely assimilated, the Borg used a transwarp network to routinely visit different points scattered throughout the quadrant. Following the Borg-Species 8472 War, the insurrection led by Axum, the destruction of the transwarp network and the destruction of Unimatrix 01, it is unclear how the Borg's status in the Delta Quadrant has been altered. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Unimatrix Zero", "Endgame")
Other alien species that control significant areas of the quadrant include, among others, the Vidiians, the Devore, the Kazon, the Voth, the Hirogen, the Hierarchy and the Malon. Species 8472 had also established a presence in the Delta Quadrant until they returned to fluidic space. (Star Trek: Voyager)
The political power of the Krenim Imperium depends largely on its temporal weapons, and as such its influence may be altered dramatically by its own manipulation of the timeline. (VOY: "Year of Hell")
History
Millions of years before recorded Human history, it is speculated that the Voth may have left Earth and traveled to the Delta Quadrant where they established a powerful and reclusive civilization. (VOY: "Distant Origin")
Around the 3rd century, an epidemic known as Phage spread throughout the Vidiian Sodality, reducing a previously renowned culture to subsisting on organ piracy and slave labor. (VOY: "Phage", "Faces")
In the 15th century, the Vaadwaur controlled many colonies and exerted influence across much of the Delta Quadrant, if not further, via a series of underspace corridors. In 1484 an alliance of species led by the Turei destroyed the Vaadwaur empire, forcing survivors to undergo cryostasis in the hopes of preserving their society. (VOY: "Dragon's Teeth")
Jal Sankur united the Kazon sects in 2346 to overthrow their enslavers, the Trabe. Virtually all Trabe territory fell under control of the various sects, which soon began fighting amongst each other. (VOY: "Initiations", "Maneuvers", "Alliances")
Prior to 2371, an entity known as the Caretaker, while not claiming any specific territory per se, was a major factor in the socio-political climate near the outer rim of the Delta Quadrant, in the midst of Kazon space. (VOY: "Caretaker")
Spatial landmarks
- Window of Dreams
- Chaotic space
- The Void (region)
- The Void (anomaly)
- Vyntadi Expanse
- Nekrit Expanse
- Yontasa Expanse
- Northwest Passage
