The Daedalus Class starships were the first class of starships that were adopted by the newly formed United Federation of Planets in 2161. Designed in 2156, the Daedalus Class was initially built as an exploration starship, building upon advances made a few years earlier in the "NX Class" program. This new class of vessels were among the first to show the primary/secondary-warp drive section. Originally designed around the warp-5 (old scale) drive system employed in the NX Class ships, the drive section of the first Daedalus prototype was redesigned to accommodate dilithium-matrix power converters. This enhancement would make the Daedalus Class the first warp-6 star ship of Earth design.
For over forty years, the Daedalus Class ship dominated the exploration of the Federation's fast expanding territory, and became a much lauded success in contacting newly discovered races, and charting large volumes of unknown space. Because of the successful run and proven features of the Daedalus Class, its basic design has became the standard for Federation starships well into the 24th century. The Daedalus Class vessels were retired from service in 2196.
Daedulus has responded.