Starfleet Engineering was established in the summer of 2136 as an effort to begin the process of Starfleet constructing and operating its own spacecraft independent of the United Earth Space Probe Agency.  Upon its creation, Starfleet Engineering held forty members and occupied an office on the first floor of UESPA headquarters in Houston on Earth.  By the beginning of 2137, Starfleet Engineering had nearly tripled in size, divided into three branches overseeing warp propulsion research, starship design, as well as a general administrative office.  

 

In the summer of 2137, Starfleet Engineering was relocated to Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco.  In 2140, the offices of Starfleet Engineering were relocated again to the new Starfleet Engineering Complex.

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In July 2141, Starfleet Engineering Directive #7 formally began the process to transfer control of the Earth Drydock from UESPA to Starfleet control by the beginning of 2142.  This directive was modified five months later through Starfleet Operations Directive #52, which ordered the Starfleet takeover of the Earth Drydock to coordinate with the results of the NX Project.