Lapeeria was the inhabited third and outermost planet in the Laap system. This class M planet was the homeworld of the Lapeerians, a technologically advanced humanoid civilization.
In 2381, Starfleet conducted a first contact mission to Lapeeria. The mission was to be headed by the USS Archimedes, with the USS Cerritos following up by installing subspace transponders. However, after the two starships arrived in the system, an unpredicted solar flare from the Lapeerian sun shattered an unstable planetoid and created a massive debris field that struck the Archimedes. The magnetized ionic plasma within the debris disabled the Archimedes, which became caught in Lapeeria's gravity well. The Cerritos managed to traverse the debris field and arrest the Archimedes with a tractor beam before it impacted the surface.
Afterwards, first contact with the Lapeerians proceeded without incident, with Captain Carol Freeman now taking the lead. Three more Federation starships then arrived at the planet to render assistance. (LD: "First First Contact")
The first schematic of the Laap system in the episode shows Lapeeria and one of the gas giants both in the fourth orbital path. A later schematic shows Lapeeria in the fifth and sixth orbital paths.