The USS Enterprise in Star Trek Beyond finally did a saucer separation mimicking the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In Star Trek Beyond's alternate Kelvin timeline, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew faced a new enemy, Krall (Idris Elba), who was a mutated human formerly known as Captain Balthazar Edison. Krall and his alien villains, the swarm, destroyed Kirk's Starship Enterprise despite Kirk trying to save his ship with a saucer separation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the saucer separation in its series premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint." Saucer separation involves the USS Enterprise-D detaching its saucer section, where the vast majority of the ship's crew lives and works, with its star drive section, which contains Engineering, the nacelles, and the Enterprise's warp drive. TNG rarely separated the Enterprise-D's saucer because of the prohibitive costs of its visual effects on a TV budget, and also there were few story-driven reasons that necessitated saucer separation. The Enterprise-D's most infamous saucer separation occurred in Star Trek Generations, which led to the Galaxy-class starship crash landing on Veridian III.
Kirk's Enterprise Finally Did A Saucer Separation In Star Trek Beyond
Star Trek Beyond finally showed the Constitution-class USS Enterprise execute a saucer separation. Early in the film, the Enterprise warped into a trap set by Krall so that he could retrieve an ancient artifact that would complete a weapon he intended to use against the United Federation of Planets. Krall's swarm quickly crippled the Enterprise, and the villain boarded Starfleet's flagship, where he battled Captain Kirk, who ordered his crew to abandon ship. Krall stopped Kirk from separating the saucer, but Uhura (Zoë Saldaña) executed the separation, although she was left behind with Krall while Kirk was aboard the saucer. The remnants of the Enterprise, along with its crew, crashed on the nearby planet Altamid.
Star Trek: The Original Series technical manuals indicated that Captain Kirk's (William Shatner) USS Enterprise was capable of saucer separation, which was to be used in emergencies. TOS never depicted a saucer separation because of the show's limited TV budget, nor was there a story that required showing the Enterprise splitting its saucer from its star drive. This continued in the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, and most fans weren't aware Kirk's Enterprise could do a saucer separation like Picard's ship. Star Trek Beyond finally made it happen.
Star Trek Beyond's Saucer Separation Homaged Picard's Enterprise In Generations
The saucer separation in Star Trek Beyond was also an obvious parallel to the saucer separation in Star Trek Generations. Like Krall's attack on Kirk's Enterprise, Picard's USS Enterprise-D was targeted by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey controlled by Lursa (Barbara Mach) and B'Etor (Gwynyth Walsh) Duras. Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) separated the saucer section after Klingon torpedoes caused a warp core breach, but the resulting explosion forced the saucer section piloted by Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) to crash-land on Veridian III. Star Trek Beyond's saucer separation also led to the destruction of Kirk's Enterprise. It remains to be seen if Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will depict the USS Enterprise commanded by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) executing a saucer separation.