The Terra Nova was an experimental prototype starship designed primarily by Admiral Edward Janeway at the Utopia Planitia shipyard between 2355 and 2358. The vessel was small, highly maneuverable, and heavily armed. It was designed specifically because of the mounting threat of war with Cardassia.

In 2358, Janeway, along with his daughter Kathryn and her fiancé Justin Tighe, took the Terra Nova on its first long-range test flight. While flying to the Tau Ceti system with Tighe as the pilot, the ship crashed into an iceberg. Kathryn Janeway survived, but Tighe and Edward Janeway were killed. (VOY novel: Mosaic)