The Miranda-class Starship Development Project began in 2268. The Miranda-class project was developed to fill Starfleet's need for a mid-sized starship with science and research as its primary missions. The ship design borrows from the Soyuz-class and the saucer and warp nacelles are derived from the Constitution refit project. The Miranda-class features a standard saucer section, but has no secondary or engineering hull. The ship was designed to be built more quickly and easily than the current flagship at that time, the Constitution-class starship. The Miranda-class starships continued service for many years, into the 24th century.

The prototype starship U.S.S. Miranda NCC-1801 was commissioned in 2277 at Earth McKinley Station. The first production starship, the U.S.S. Reliant NCC-1864, followed later that year, commanded by Captain Clark Terrell. Other Miranda-class starships include the U.S.S. Brattain NCC-21166 and the U.S.S. Lantree NCC-1837.

There are different versions of the Miranda-class, some include the original weapons/sensor module "rollbar" as seen on the U.S.S. Reliant, while others do not, such as the U.S.S. Saratoga NCC-31911.

In 2285, while cataloging planets for the Genesis project, the U.S.S. Reliant was commandeered by the infamous augment leader Khan Noonien Singh at Ceti Alpha V. The ship was destroyed by Captain James Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 in the Mutara Nebula.