The fourth series in the Star Trek media franchise , it originally aired in syndication from January 3, , to June 2, , spanning episodes over seven seasons. Deep Space Nine was the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry , the first set on a space station rather than a traveling starship, and the first to have an African American as its central character: Starfleet Commander, later Captain, Benjamin Sisko played by Avery Brooks.
Changes were made to the series throughout its seven-year run. In the third season, the starship USS Defiant was introduced to enable more stories away from the space station. The final three seasons deal with a story arc , that of the war between the Federation and an invading Gamma Quadrant power, the Dominion. During Deep Space Nine 's run, various episode novelizations and tie-in video games were produced.
After the show ended, various novels and comics continued the adventures of the crew. The main setting of Deep Space Nine is a space station near the planet Bajor , built by the imperialistic Cardassians during their long, brutal occupation of Bajor. After liberating themselves through a guerrilla war , the Bajorans invite the United Federation of Planets to jointly administer the station.
Shortly after his arrival, Sisko discovers a stable wormhole in Bajoran space between the Alpha Quadrant and the unexplored Gamma Quadrant , and the station is moved near the wormhole's entrance. The wormhole is the home of powerful, noncorporeal aliens whom the Bajorans worship as "the Prophets". Sisko is revered by the Bajorans as the Prophets' "Emissary"; although he is initially uncomfortable with being a religious figure, he gradually grows to accept his role.
Deep Space Nine and Bajor quickly become a center for exploration, interstellar trade , political maneuvering, and finally open conflict. Threats come not only from Cardassians, Klingons , and Romulans from the Alpha Quadrant, but also later from the Dominion , a powerful empire in the Gamma Quadrant ruled by a species of shapeshifters. The starship USS Defiant is assigned to help protect the station. When the Dominion and the Cardassians take up arms against the Federation and its allies starting in the fifth season, Deep Space Nine becomes a key Federation base in the Dominion War.
