The Archon-class cruiser was a type of starship in service beginning shortly after the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161. Similar in appearance to the Daedalus-class ships of the Earth Starfleet that were later integrated into the Federation Starfleet, the Archon class was larger. The prototype of this class was constructed from the spaceframe of what would have been the Horizon-class USS Gauss. Archon class vessels have a different internal configuration and greater endurance than Horizon-class ships.