per hour |
the speed of Light |
across one sector (20 light-years) |
||
| Standard orbit | 9600 | less than 0.00001 SUBLIGHT |
2 million years | Synchronous orbit around Class-M planet. |
| Full impulse (1/4 lightspeed) |
270 million | 0.25 SUBLIGHT |
80 years | Normal maximum impulse speed |
| Warp factor 1 | 1078 million | 1 | 20 years | Warp one = SPEED OF LIGHT |
| Warp factor 2 | 11 billion | 10 | 3 years | |
| Warp factor 3 | 42 billion | 39 | 1 year | |
| Warp factor 4 | 109 billion | 102 | 2 months | |
| Warp factor 5 | 230 billion | 214 | 1 month | New cruising speed |
| Warp factor 6 | 423 billion | 392 | 19 days | Old normal cruising speed |
| Warp factor 7 | 707 billion | 656 | 11 days | |
| Warp factor 8 | 1.10 trillion | 1,024 | 7 days | |
| Warp factor 9 | 1.63 trillion | 1,516 | 5 days | |
| Warp factor 9.2 | 1.78 trillion | 1,649 | 4 days | Old normal maximum speed |
| Warp factor 9.6 | 2.06 trillion | 1,909 | 4 days | Maximum rated speed, can be maintained for 12 hours |
| Warp factor 9.9 | 3.29 trillion | 3,053 | 2 days | Auto-shutdown of engines after 10 minutes |
| Warp factor 9.99 | 8.53 trillion | 7,912 | 22 hours | Nearly infinite power required |
| Warp factor 9.9999 | 215 trillion | 199,516 | 53 minutes | Maximum subspace radio speed with booster relays |
| Warp factor 10 | Infinite | Infinite | 0 | Warp 10 cannot be reached |
A warp factor is a unit of measure used to measure faster-than-light warp velocities. Warp one is c, the speed of light, while higher speeds are computed geometrically under one of two different formulae. The original Starship Enterprise had a cruising speed of Warp 6, and could reach Warp 8 only with significant danger to the ship itself. The ship nevertheless reached Warp 11 in 2267 when modified by Nomad to increase engine efficiency by 57%. The ship reached Warp 14.1 in 2268 when the engines were sabotaged by Losira.
By the 24th century, a new warp-factor scale was in use that employed an asymptotic curve, placing Warp 10 as an infinite value. At Warp 10, a starship will occupy all points in the universe simultaneously. Warp 10 was, however, achieved by a modified shuttle by the crew of U.S.S. Voyager. The pilot and passenger of the shuttle de-evolved as a side-effect of traveling at Warp 10. No one else has achieved Warp 10 under the new warp-factor scale.
Under the new scale, the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D had a normal cruising speed of Warp 6, and a maximun normal velocity of Warp 9.2.
The new speed limit of Warp 5 was imposed after it was discovered that speeds exceeding Warp 5 cause dangerous damage to the space-time continuum.
