最高指导原则（英文：Prime Directive）是美国科幻系列《星际旅行》虚构宇宙中星际舰队的指导原则之一，也是指导原则中第一号原则。最高指导原则要求星际舰队下属星舰不得干涉一有知觉并居住于有正常文化发展且拥有自我慎思能力的环境下之外星种族生活与文化发展。若该文明尚未发展出曲速航行能力，星际舰队旗下星舰不得对其原始文明有任何影响，也不得干涉其固有演化道路。

最高指导原则只是星际舰队的规章，只能约束其旗下的各艘星舰，在星际联邦其他成员文明中则不适用；若地球的平民违反了这一指导原则，星际舰队也无权作出干涉。欧米加指令是唯一一个在特定情况下比最高指导原则还重要的绝密指令，在航行期间遇到欧米加分子时，星际舰队下属星舰应当立即摧毁这一分子，在必要的情况下可以无视最高指导原则。

In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive is the guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets. The Prime Directive, used in four of the five Star Trek-based series, prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the internal development of alien civilizations. This conceptual law applies particularly to civilizations which are below a certain threshold of technological, scientific and cultural development; preventing starship crews from using their superior technology to impose their own values or ideals on them. Since its introduction in the first season of the original Star Trek series, it has served as the focus of numerous episodes of the various series. As time travel became a recurring feature in the franchise, the concept was expanded as a Temporal Prime Directive, prohibiting those under its orders from interfering in historical events.