This article details important events from within the Alien universe, from the discovery of LV-223 to the destruction of the USM Auriga and everything in between. This article connects all the Alien films to the Alien Earth TV series and Aliens: Colonial Marines, Alien: Isolation and Aliens: Fireteam Elite games. As new seasons of Alien Earth, new Alien films and new games are released, this article will be updated accordingly with the most up-to-date and accurate timeline information.
Year 2093 - Prometheus Mission, LV-223 Discovery
In the year 2093, Weyland Industries launched the Trillion-dollar PROMETHEUS mission to LV-223 in pursuit of answers to life's most profound questions. On the surface, the mission was sold as an expedition to investigate the existence of alien life, specifically a race of beings some believed were responsible for the creation of Humanity. In actuality, the mission's goal was to find a way to extend Peter Weyland's life.
With the help of his android servant, David, the crew of the Prometheus discovered an Engineer facility on the moon LV-223. Within this facility were massive silos, housing Juggernaut spacecrafts carrying payloads of volatile bio-forming material. One remaining Engineer was discovered, preserved in stasis on-board one of these Juggernaut ships and David, along with Weyland attempted to wake it up and communicate with it. Upon waking, the Engineer becomes enraged and proceeds to behead David and kill Peter Weyland. A chaotic series of events ensue and Dr. Elizabeth Shaw and David (in parts) manage to escape the Engineer, LV-223, commandeering a Juggernaut craft. They set course for where they believe the Engineers come from; Shaw determined to ask them why they planned to wipe out Humanity 2,000 years prior; David hiding more sinister motives.
Year 2104 - Covenant Mission, Origae-6 Colonization
In the year 2104, the colony ship USCSS Covenant was en route to the remote world of Origae-6, carrying over 2,000 colonists and embryos intended to establish a new human settlement. After a neutrino burst damages the ship and kills the vessel’s captain, the crew intercepts a human transmission originating from a nearby, uncharted planet. Believing it to be a more viable candidate for colonization, the Covenant diverts course to investigate.
Upon arrival, the crew discovers a seemingly habitable world devoid of animal life but rich in vegetation. The transmission leads them to the long-missing android David, survivor of the Prometheus mission. Unknown to the crew, David has spent years conducting genetic experiments using the black goo pathogen recovered from LV-223, resulting in the creation of deadly organisms including the Neomorph and early Xenomorph variants.
As the crew is systematically hunted, David reveals his intention to perfect his creations. In the chaos, David replaces the Covenant’s android Walter and assumes his identity. The film concludes with David successfully boarding the Covenant, placing the surviving crew into cryosleep and secretly transporting Xenomorph embryos to Origae-6, ensuring the continuation of his experiments.
Year 2120 - Prodigy Incident
Set approximately in the year 2120 on Earth powerful corporations including the Prodigy Corporation and Weyland-Yutani Corporation are vying for dominance in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. While Weyland-Yutani favor harvesting potentially viable specimens from across the galaxy, exploiting them to further scientific advancements, Prodigy heavily invest in Hybrid (Human consciousness paired with Synthetic / robot bodies) development to advance Humanity and corporate interests. When a Weyland-Yutani vessel, the USCSS Maginot (carrying a number of harvested specimens) is sabotaged and crash lands in Prodigy City. From there, chaos ensues as Prodigy seeks to exploit Weyland-Yutani's specimens for themselves, only for them to break containment and wreck havoc on the island.
NOTE: Although the Alien Earth series exists in parallel to the established film canon, its events are thematically and chronologically aligned with the broader Alien universe, offering additional context to the corporate ambitions, technological advancements, and scientific pursuits that ultimately lead to humanity’s encounters with the Xenomorph species.
Year 2122 - Nostromo Incident, LV-426
In the year 2122, the commercial towing vessel USCSS Nostromo, owned by Weyland-Yutani, is rerouted to investigate a mysterious distress signal originating from the moon LV-426. Under company orders, the crew investigates a derelict alien spacecraft where Executive Officer Kane is attacked by a parasitic organism later known as a Facehugger.
After the creature detaches, Kane appears to recover, but during a meal aboard the Nostromo, a Chestburster violently emerges from his body. The organism rapidly matures into a fully grown Xenomorph, which begins hunting the crew one by one through the ship’s corridors.
Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley discovers that the ship’s science officer, the android Ash, was acting under secret corporate orders to secure the organism for the Company, deeming the crew expendable. Ripley ultimately initiates the Nostromo’s self-destruct sequence and escapes aboard the shuttle Narcissus, successfully ejecting the Xenomorph into space before entering hypersleep.
Year 2137 - Sevastopol Station Incident
In the year 2137, fifteen years after the destruction of the USCSS Nostromo, Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, embarks on a mission to uncover the truth behind her mother’s disappearance. Her search leads her to Sevastopol Station, a decommissioned trading hub orbiting the gas giant KG-348, where the Nostromo’s flight recorder has reportedly surfaced.
Upon arrival, Amanda discovers the station in a state of chaos, its population decimated by a single, highly aggressive Xenomorph organism. The creature was inadvertently brought aboard after a salvage crew recovered the Nostromo’s flight recorder from the wreckage on LV-426, unknowingly triggering another outbreak.
As systems fail and survivors turn on one another, Amanda navigates the station’s deteriorating infrastructure while avoiding both hostile humans and malfunctioning Working Joe synthetics manufactured by Seegson Corporation. Unlike previous incidents, the Xenomorph exhibits persistent hunting behavior, adapting to its environment and stalking survivors throughout the station.
Year 2142 - Romulus Station Incident
Set approximately in the year 2142, the events of Alien: Romulus take place during a period of aggressive expansion by Weyland-Yutani into deep space. A group of young colonists and scavengers encounter a derelict space station tied to secret Company experiments involving Xenomorph biology.
As they attempt to salvage valuable materials, the group inadvertently unleashes a Xenomorph outbreak within the confined structure. Cut off from escape and pursued through the station’s corridors, the survivors are forced into a desperate fight for survival against the rapidly evolving organism. The station is eventually destroyed after it falls out of orbit.
Year 2179 - LV-426 Outbreak / Hadley’s Hope Incident
In the year 2179, Ellen Ripley is recovered after drifting in space for 57 years. Following her debriefing, contact is lost with the colony Hadley’s Hope on LV-426, established near the site of the Nostromo’s original discovery. A team of Colonial Marines, accompanied by Ripley, is dispatched to investigate.
Upon arrival, the colony is found overrun by Xenomorphs, with only one survivor, Newt. The Marines soon discover a massive Xenomorph hive and encounter the species’ reproductive matriarch, the Queen. As the situation deteriorates, Ripley and the surviving Marines attempt to escape while the facility’s atmosphere processor is set to explode.
Ripley ultimately confronts the Queen aboard the USS Sulaco, ejecting it into space after a final battle using a powered loader. Ripley, Newt, Corporal Hicks, and the android Bishop enter hypersleep, believing the threat to be over.
Year 2179 - USS Sulaco Aftermath
Also set in the year 2179, the events of Aliens: Colonial Marines take place in the immediate aftermath of the LV-426 incident depicted in Aliens. A team of Colonial Marines is dispatched to investigate the USS Sulaco, which is discovered drifting in space under mysterious circumstances following Ripley’s escape.
Upon boarding the Sulaco, the Marines encounter signs of a Xenomorph outbreak and evidence suggesting that Weyland-Yutani had already begun attempting to secure and study the organisms. The investigation soon leads the squad back to LV-426, where they discover that Xenomorph activity persists within the ruins of Hadley’s Hope.
As the operation unfolds, the Marines face both Xenomorph threats and covert Company forces seeking to contain the situation and preserve valuable specimens. Reports from the incident include encounters with multiple Xenomorph variants and attempts by Weyland-Yutani to weaponize the species, further reinforcing the corporation’s ongoing interest in bioweapons development.
NOTE: The exact details of the Sulaco and LV-426 follow-up events remain disputed within the broader Alien canon, though the incident is often referenced as an extension of the immediate aftermath of Aliens and the continued struggle to contain the Xenomorph threat.
Year 2179 - Fiorina 161 Incident
Immediately following the events of Aliens, the escape vessel carrying Ripley crash-lands on the prison colony Fiorina 161. The crash results in the deaths of Newt and Hicks, leaving Ripley as the sole survivor among the original group.
Unbeknownst to the survivors, a Xenomorph has also been transported to the facility, where it begins hunting the prison population. The creature develops into a variant adapted to its host environment, displaying increased speed and agility.
Ripley soon discovers she is carrying a Xenomorph Queen embryo. With Weyland-Yutani en route to retrieve the specimen, Ripley chooses to sacrifice herself by plunging into a furnace, preventing the Company from obtaining the Queen and halting the spread of the species—at least temporarily.
Year 2202 - Outer Rim Outbreaks, LV-895
In the year 2202, over two decades after the destruction of Hadley’s Hope on LV-426, new Xenomorph outbreaks begin to surface across the Outer Rim. Aboard the USS Endeavor, a detachment of Colonial Marines — designated Fireteam Elite — is deployed to investigate a distress signal originating from the frontier world LV-895 and the orbiting Katanga Refinery.
Upon arrival, the Marines discover that the refinery and surrounding installations have been overrun by Xenomorphs, alongside other hostile organisms linked to the pathogen first encountered on LV-223. As the operation unfolds, the team uncovers evidence of corporate experimentation involving both Weyland-Yutani and rival factions seeking to weaponize the species.
Year 2381 - USM Auriga Incident
In the year 2381, over 200 years after Ripley’s death, scientists aboard the military vessel USM Auriga successfully clone Ripley using preserved genetic material. The cloning process results in a hybrid Ripley possessing both human and Xenomorph traits, including enhanced strength and a psychic link to the creatures.
The scientists breed Xenomorphs for research and potential military applications, but the creatures inevitably escape containment, overrunning the ship. As the situation spirals out of control, Ripley teams up with a group of mercenaries to survive and prevent the Xenomorphs from reaching Earth.
The crisis culminates in the birth of a grotesque human-Xenomorph hybrid, known as the Newborn. Ripley ultimately destroys the creature and the Auriga is evacuated before it crashes into Earth’s atmosphere. The surviving crew escape aboard the Betty, leaving the future of both humanity and the Xenomorph species uncertain.
Published 1d ago • Last Updated: 56m ago
