What Is A Singularity Drive? Star Trek's Alternative To Warp Drives, Explained

Red alert! This article contains spoilers for episode 6 of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy."

There's no time like a thousand years in the future to include massive additions to established "Star Trek" canon. After spending its first few episodes getting its sea legs under it, "Starfleet Academy" has now delivered back-to-back occasions involving some seriously impressive liberties taken with the overall franchise. Last week gave us a meaningful tribute to Avery Brooks' Benjamin Sisko from "Deep Space Nine," and while this week's installment is much more focused on the here and now, this adventure decided to expand significantly on what we thought we knew about "Trek" lore.

Episode 6, titled "Come, Let's Away," uses a fascinating quirk of continuity to launch us into an action-packed hour of "Starfleet Academy." During a joint training exercise between cadets of both the militant War College and the Academy proper, the mission centers on the derelict starship remains of the USS Miyazaki. This state-of-the-art vessel was once on the bleeding edge of innovation, boasting a fancy singularity drive that unfortunately led to its destruction (and the deaths of its entire crew) when things went awry. Now, it's used primarily as a training ground for the next generation of Starfleet officers — and a cautionary tale.

Those who know their "Star Trek" fundamentals should've had their ears perk up considerably, however. This isn't the first time that a singularity drive has appeared in the franchise before, but it is notable that this particular accident happened under Starfleet's watch. Once considered the most advanced tech in all of "Trek" and strictly the domain of factions like the Romulans, the singularity drive has finally made its way to the Federation. The future is officially now in "Starfleet Academy." 

When it comes to highly classified and sensitive material like this, technically we shouldn't even be talking about things like singularity drives in the first place ... but you caught us in a good mood. Of all the various technological advancements on display throughout "Star Trek," few are as shrouded in secrecy as the fabled singularity drive possessed by the Romulans. Officially known as an artificial quantum singularity, this basically served as an alternative to Starfleet's typical faster-than-light warp drives (which could eventually become a reality) for getting around unimaginably vast distances around the galaxy.

There are a few select instances in the series where quantum singularity drives factor into the main plot. In season 6 of "The Next Generation," the episode titled "Face of My Enemy" features USS Enterprise counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) going undercover behind enemy lines as a member of the Romulan species. When the war bird under her command inevitably comes face to face with the Enterprise, the singularity drive on her ship (along with its cloaking tech) provides a significant advantage. But it's only in the non-canonical "Star Trek Online" role-playing game that players actually get to see one of these drives for themselves. Essentially a man-made black hole, this alternative power source to Starfleet's typical matter-antimatter warp cores represents one of the most futuristic and technologically superior inventions in the entire franchise — which Starfleet has been chasing for hundreds of years.

In "Starfleet Academy," it appears that they finally caught up ... only to meet disaster instead.

While many of the headlines about episode 6 of "Starfleet Academy" will highlight the introduction of the antagonistic Furies and the return of Paul Giamatti's ostentatious villain Nus Braka, it's the unspoken implication evidenced by the USS Miyazaki that provides much of the weight behind this hour. The "ship graveyard" the USS Athena travels to for this training exercise is a bleak warning in and of itself. As Holly Hunter's Captain Nahla Ake explains, the activation of the experimental warp drive alternative aboard the Miyazaki led directly to its tragic fate. While "Star Trek" has always maintained an optimistic vision of the future, emphasizing forward movement and advancement across all facets of society, this is a rare (but sobering) reminder that progress may sometimes come at a heavy price.

"Starfleet Academy" doesn't spend much time dwelling on this singularity drive or whether Starfleet has made any further attempts to incorporate this into their fleet of starships, but it's easy to imagine a scenario where this plot device comes up again at some point down the line. The tension between Academy cadets and members of the War College continues to be a recurring element throughout this debut season, culminating in the death of Vulcan student B'Avi (Alexander Eling), who sacrifices himself in order to save the rest of the team. What better source of conflict than to have a debate over the singularity drive once again put Starfleet's ideals and the War College's occasionally ruthless mindsets in clear opposition?

New episodes of "Starfleet Academy" stream on Paramount+ every Thursday.