The warp five engine was the result of many decades of research and development into making faster starships for the Starfleet, commissioned by the United Earth Space Probe Agency under the Warp Five Program. Before the program began, Human ships were limited to a speed just under warp 2.
Drs. Zefram Cochrane and Henry Archer were two of the main scientists involved in the warp five engine; they did much of their work at the Warp Five Complex on Earth.
The Template:ShipClass was the first Earth starship to utilize the warp five engine. Unfortunately, by the time his engine was finally used, Henry Archer had died of Clarke's Disease. However, his son, Jonathan Archer, captained the first NX-class starship, the Enterprise. (ENT: "Broken Bow")
See also
- NX program