United Earth Space Probe Agency
The United Earth Space Probe Agency, commonly abbreviated UESPA, was a space exploration agency with its origins dating back to the era of Earth's Post-Atomic Horror. This agency was administered by UESPA headquarters. (; )

History

In 2067, UESPA launched the Friendship 1 probe to the Delta Quadrant as part of a series of unmanned exploration probes. ()

By the 2130s, UESPA had been integrated with Starfleet as the leading United Earth space exploration service. Together, UESPA and Starfleet accomplished many missions. ()

In the 2150s, various UESPA personnel were involved in the construction of  starships. (, dedication plaque; , dedication plaque)

In 2155, an opening conference that discussed a possible "Coalition of Planets" was overseen by both UESPA and Starfleet. ()

In the 2260s, UESPA was still a major operating agency working with Starfleet vessels. By 2267, UESPA was the operating authority of a five-year mission which the  undertook, as Captain James T. Kirk once informed John Christopher. () In 2266, Kirk reported to UESPA headquarters after learning of the destruction of the Antares. ()

In 2293, UESPA personnel were still involved in construction of Starfleet starships, most noticeably on the . (, dedication plaque)

UESPA personnel

Enterprise (NX-01)
The following personnel were noted for their work with the United Earth Space Probe Agency on  in 2151. (, dedication plaque)
 
 W.M. Jefferies

Columbia (NX-02)
The following personnel were noted for their work with the United Earth Space Probe Agency on  in 2154. (, dedication plaque)
 Gene Roddenberry (previously worked on Enterprise)
 W.M. Jefferies (previously worked on Enterprise)

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)
The following personnel were noted for their work with UESPA on the  on stardate 9715.5. ()

Appendices

Background information 
UESPA (pronounced "you-spah") was first mentioned in abbreviated form in  and the acronym was spelled out in . It was one of several names given in early episodes for the agency under which the Enterprise and its crew operated before writers finally settled on "Starfleet" (also formatted as "Star Fleet").

Evidence of UESPA later appeared in , when the probe Friendship 1 had the letters "UESPA-1" on its hull. It also bore an emblem looking like a mixture between the United Nations' logo and Starfleet's logo. UESPA also appeared on the bridge dedication plaque of the  in . Its name was seen on a Starfleet Command logo in .

In the script of "From the First Day to the Last, Part II" (a developmental precursor to ), UESPA was mentioned at a  to determine whether to allow Christopher Pike to return to Talos IV to die there. At the hearing, Captain Kirk stated, "UESPA regulations dictate that any data directly or indirectly connected with alien behavior, customs or physical aspects be placed in the captain's log at his earliest opportunity after an encounter with those aliens… this to add to the body of knowledge in our space probe records." Commander Jermane, an officer who was objecting to Pike's request, considered this an "almost verbatim" recital from UESPA regulations.

In the final draft script of "The Menagerie", Starbase 11 (then called "Star Base 811") was described as being identified, in signage intended to appear on-screen, as a "United Space Agency" facility, even though the name "Starfleet" had been devised by then.

UESPA was additionally mentioned in unseen portions of the Picard family album, created for Star Trek Generations, in an article called "It's Federation Day!". Major General Georges Picard, an aide to Thomas Vanderbilt, implies here that he fought the Romulan scourge, which itself implies that UESPA was, in some way, involved in the Earth-Romulan War.

In "Tomorrow is Yesterday", Captain Kirk refers to UESPA as a "combined service," but he is vague enough that it is more likely that he was actually referring to his Starfleet crew. It is possible that starship crews of his time were a combined service of both the naval ranked Starfleet and the military ranked UESPA officers. This would explain the use of military ranks in . This may also explain West's rank of colonel in . The same possibility would also seem to be implied by the appearance of the joint Starfleet Command/UESPA seal in "Demons".

External link

de:United Earth Space Probe Agency
fr:United Earth Space Probe Agency
ja:地球連合宇宙開発局
Earth agencies
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