The long-planned engine project which allowed Earth to build a warp-five ship.
The Warp Five Complex was the Earth facility where the engine for the first human starship able to reach warp 5 was developed. In 2119, Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of warp drive, spoke at its dedication, a recording of which is shown in the Enterprise pilot, Broken Bow. The young Jonathan Archer watched with his father, Henry Archer, who designed the engine.
The project faced setbacks and Vulcan doubts. In the Enterprise episode First Flight, Archer recalls the NX test program of the 2140s. A.G. Robinson broke the warp 2 barrier in the NX-Alpha, but it was destroyed. Archer and Robinson then took the NX-Beta out without permission and reached warp 2.5, proving Henry Archer's design was sound, though the program was grounded for a year.
Henry Archer died before his engine was completed. Enterprise NX-01, the first warp 5 starship, was launched in 2151 under Jonathan Archer, and the success of the program helped set Earth on the road to the Federation.