Stargate Program - Earth and The Stargate

Earth and The Stargate

See also: Earth in Stargate Mythology and Stargate (device)

Following a backstory spanning millions of years, the modern history of Earth's Stargate Program begins when the Stargate is unearthed in Egypt in 1928. The device is eventually brought to the United States in 1939 to keep it out of Nazi hands and eventually installed in a facility in Creek Mountain, Colorado (Cheyenne Mountain in Stargate SG-1). In the events of the Stargate film, Dr. Daniel Jackson deciphers the workings of the Stargate. A team is sent through to the planet on the other side, where they encounter and defeat the malevolent Ra, freeing his slaves. Under the belief that there was only one possible destination through the Stargate, no further missions are planned through the Stargate and the program shut down.

The Stargate SG-1 premiere "Children of the Gods" reveals the existence of another grave extraterrestrial threat to Earth, Apophis, and that there are in fact thousands of planets accessible through the Stargate. As a result, the United States establishes Stargate Command inside Cheyenne Mountain and commissions nine teams (which increases to many more in the later seasons) to travel through the Gate to assess threats, open negotiations with other civilizations, and procure technology to defend Earth. The first SG mission to Apophis' homeworld, Chulak, sees the defection of Jaffa warrior Teal'c to Earth. In the early seasons of Stargate SG-1, SG teams from Earth fights battles against Apophis and the Goa'uld System Lords. Along the way, they make offworld allies including the Tok'ra and the Asgard, support a growing rebellion amongst the Jaffa, and encounter a dangerous new threat from another galaxy, the mechanical Replicators. The Stargate Program also endures challenges from its own government; the ambitious Senator Robert Kinsey seeks to shut down and later control the SGC, and the activities of the unscrupulous N.I.D. threatens to destabilize Earth's offworld relations.

Season eight of Stargate SG-1 sees the final defeat of the System Lords and the Replicators, changing the political face of the galaxy. Dr. Daniel Jackson also discovers the address for the Ancients' Lost City of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy, and the international Atlantis Expedition is formed. In Pegasus Earth discovers more enemies, including the life-consuming Wraith and the nanite Asurans. A new enemy, the Ori, is introduced in the ninth season of SG-1. Their story arc is concluded in Stargate: The Ark of Truth with the defeat of the last Ori, the Ascended being Adria, and the turning of her armies.