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Starship Enterprise

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This article is about Star Trek ships named Enterprise. For the NASA design proposal, see IXS Enterprise. For the TV series, see Star Trek: Enterprise. For a list of ships named Enterprise, see USS Enterprise.

Enterprise or USS Enterprise, often referred to as the Starship Enterprise, is the name of several spacecraft in the Star Trek science fiction franchise.

The Enterprise made for the original Star Trek television series has been called an iconic design, and it influenced subsequent spacecraft in and outside the franchise. Several vessels named Enterprise have been the main setting for various Star Trek spinoff series and films.

Production history

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The original Star Trek and first films

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Matt Jefferies designed the first of many starships named Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise.

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701
Introduction: Star Trek (1966–1969)
The USS Enterprise, led by Captain James T. Kirk, is the main setting of the original Star Trek series and Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–74).[1] Matt Jefferies designed the ship, and its core components – a saucer-shaped primary hull, and cylindrical secondary hull, and a pair of outriding engine nacelles – established the core ship design for the franchise.

The same filming model was used to depict two different vessels named Enterprise in the franchise's first six films.

Ships: Refit USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 and USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A
Introduction: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Jefferies created an updated Enterprise design for the Star Trek: Phase II series. He left the project when Phase II halted and production began on the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Several artists, including Andrew Probert, contributed to the film redesign. Several aspects of the ship, such as the engine nacelle grills, were influenced by art deco. The ship's significantly different appearance compared to the television show was attributed to an 18-month refit. The ship is heavily damaged in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), and it is destroyed in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Captain Kirk is given command of a new vessel named Enterprise. Despite being a new ship narratively, the producers used the same filming model, redressed to include the new "NCC-1701-A" registry. The vessel appears in next two films, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). The ship is ordered decommissioned at the end of the sixth film, and it appears in a Starfleet Museum in the third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023).

The Next Generation productions

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Andrew Probert designed a new Enterprise for a television series that takes place over 70 years after the original Star Trek.

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D
Introduction: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
Andrew Probert designed the Enterprise created for the franchise's return to television, taking place on a new Enterprise led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard 70 years after the event in the original series. This Enterprise also appears in the first film featuring the Next Generation cast, Star Trek Generations (1994). The ship's engineering section is destroyed in Generations, but its saucer section crash lands on an alien planet. In the third season of Star Trek: Picard, the saucer section has been attached to a different vessel's engineering hull, and it features prominently in the show's climax before becoming part of the the Fleet Museum.

Producers created a ship meant to bridge the appearance of the Enterprise-D and the Excelsior class for the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-C
Introduction: "Yesterday's Enterprise" (1990) episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
A third-season episode of The Next Generation includes a depiction of the Enterprise-D's predecessor, the Enterprise-C. Rick Sternbach used an illustration created by Andrew Probert as the design basis for the Enterprise-C, executing a final design that could be more easily produced on a television show budget. Led by Captain Rachel Garrett, the Enterprise-C is destroyed protecting a Klingon outpost from a Romulan attack, strengthening an alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.[2]

The opening sequence of Star Trek: Generations was an opportunity to depict the Excelsior-class Enterprise-B.

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-B
Introduction: Star Trek: Generations (1994)
The opening of Generations depicts the maiden voyage of the Enterprise-B, during which James Kirk is lost and presumed dead. The vessel serves after Kirk's Enterprise-A and before the Enterprise-C from "Yesterday's Enterprise". The filming model was a modification of the Excelsior created for Star Trek III, with some components added to depict damage to the ship without harming the underlying model.

The destruction of the Enterprise-D in Generations created the opportunity to design a new vessel for the sequel, First Contact.

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E
Introduction: Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
With the Enterprise-D's destruction in Generations, a new film vessel for Picard and his crew was designed as the main setting for its sequels: Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). It also appears in the first-season finale of Star Trek: Prodigy (2022) and the series finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks (2024) The ship is disabled or destroyed under Worf's command

Return to television

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The eponymous Enterprise is depicted in service 100 years before the events in the original Star Trek.

Ship: Enterprise, NX-01
Introduction: Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)
United Earth Starfleet's Enterprise is the main setting of Star Trek: Enterprise. Under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer, the vessel is the first Earth-built starship capable of reaching Warp 5. Enterprise was designed by Doug Drexler based on the features of the Akira class created by Alex Jeager for Star Trek: First Contact.

As part of the show's Temporal Cold War arc, Captain Archer travels to the 26th century's Enterprise-J in "Azati Prime".

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-J
Introduction: "Azati Prime" episode of Star Trek: Enterprise (2004)

A third-season episode of Enterprise involves Captain Archer being transported to the 26th-century Enterprise-J. Doug Drexler drew the first design only two days prior to the production meeting for the episode. The computer-generated model was created in a few hours, and Drexler later said that they would have finished it differently.[3] He imagined that the vessel was so large that there would be universities and entire parks on board, with the turbolifts replaced by short range transporters. More than one design was created, with the final version created with elements from different designs.[4]

Film franchise reboot

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The new film franchise made the Enterprise larger and more of a "hot rod."

Ships: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 and USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A
Introduction: Star Trek (2009)
A new Enterprise was designed for the film franchise relaunch, which began with Star Trek and continued with Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). The new Enterprise was conceived as a "hot rod" while retaining elements from the original Enterprise and Motion Picture refit. At the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, Enterprise has started its five-year mission under Captain Kirk. The ship is destroyed in Star Trek Beyond, and a successor Enterprise, with registry NCC-1701-A, is commissioned at the film's conclusion.

Streaming services

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Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701
 Introduction: "Will You Take My Hand?" episode of Star Trek: Discovery (2018)
Star Trek: Discovery's first-season finale, and several episodes of the second season, depict the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present) focuses on Pike's command of the Enterprise, whose exterior and interiors were slightly modified from their Discovery appearance. John Eaves, Scott Schneider, and William Budge redesigned the Enterprise for its appearance in the streaming series.

Originally designed by a fan for a Star Trek Online contest, the Enterprise-F makes a brief appearance in Star Trek: Picard.

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F
Introduction: "Võx" episode of Star Trek: Picard (2023)
This ship appears in penultimate episode Star Trek: Picard (2023) at the Frontier Day festival. The ship was originally designed by Adam Ihle as part of a fan competition for Star Trek Online.[5] Ihle's design has a "familiar and recognizable" shape while also offering an evolution in design.[5] Star Trek Online artist Thomas Marrone updated the video game asset, and then sent the model to the series artists to incorporate into the show.[6]

After appearing throughout Picard's third season as the USS Titan, the vessel is renamed USS Enterprise in the series finale.

Ship: USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-G
Introduction: "The Last Generation" episode of Star Trek: Picard (2023)
The USS Titan is the main setting for the third season of Star Trek: Picard. In the series finale, that vessel is renamed USS Enterprise and placed under the command of Captain Seven of Nine. The ship is based on designs by Bill Krause.

Reception and influence

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Mattel's 2009 patent for a flying toy is based on "the fictional and imaginary star ships "Enterprise" created for the Star Trek science fiction television series and movies." The shape includes the core design shapes from Matt Jefferies' original Enterprise design.[7]

Time described each iteration of the Enterprise as "a character in its own right".[8] io9 ranked the original design of the Enterprise as the best version of the Enterprise lineage, characterizing the original as still superior to all later versions.[9] By contrast, SyFy ranked the refit design of the Enterprise from The Motion Picture and its sequels as the franchise's best.[10]

Over many decades, the starship has influenced activities of NASA. This includes a successful letter writing campaign by fans to name the initial flight-test Space Shuttle Enterprise,[11][12] and NASA's decision to name its IXS Enterprise advanced propulsion concept vehicle after the Star Trek vessel.[13] NetDragon Websoft based the design of its Fuzhou headquarters building on the Enterprise-E under an official license from CBS.[14]

Celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has spoken highly of the influence and legacy of the original Enterprise on other fictional spaceships. Drawing a parallel to comparing athletes between eras, he said of spaceship design, "What matters is not what they look like now, but what they looked to others at the time that they prevailed... There is only one spaceship that's earlier than [the original Enterprise], and that's the flying saucer from The Day the Earth Stood Still. So, what matters here is, what did [the Enterprise] look like at the time it came out (1966) compared with anything that had been imagined before? And when you consider that, that is the most astonishing machine that has ever graced the screen."[15] On the ship's influence upon scientists, Tyson wrote, "The Enterprise was the first ever spaceship represented in storytelling that was not designed to go from one place to another; [it was] only designed to explore. It was revolutionary in terms of what we would think space would, and should, be about."[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Asherman, Allan (1993). The Star Trek Compendium. Titan. ISBN 978-1-85286-472-9.
  2. ^ Okuda, Michael; Denise Okuda; Debbie Mirek (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.
  3. ^ Drexler, Doug (June 27, 2010). "Enterprise J Sketchbook". The Drex Files. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  4. ^ Drexler, Doug (February 16, 2009). "Enterprise J Search". The Drex Files. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Stahl, Daniel (July 20, 2011). "Dev Diary: Design the Next Enterprise". www.startrek.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  6. ^ Ankers-Range, Adele (October 11, 2022). "Star Trek: Picard's Enterprise F Was Originally Designed by a Fan". IGN. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  7. ^ "Toy flying aircraft". Google Patents. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  8. ^ Conway, Richard (May 16, 2013). "Star Trek, Before Darkness: 47 Years of Starship Designs". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016.
  9. ^ Whitbrook, James. "All 11 Versions of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Ranked". io9. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  10. ^ Brigden, Charlie (January 21, 2019). "From one generation to the next: Ranking the Starships Enterprise". SyFy Wire.
  11. ^ Dumoulin, Jim, ed. (March 18, 1994). "Enterprise (OV-101)". Kennedy Space Center. NASA. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018.
  12. ^ McKinnon, Mika (July 10, 2014). "Declassified Memos Debate Naming the Shuttle Enterprise". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018.
  13. ^ Phillips, Chaka (June 22, 2014). "Warp Speed Tests: NASA Advanced Propulsion Names Latest Model Enterprise After Star Trek". Latin Post. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018.
  14. ^ Pachal, Pete (May 19, 2015). "Make it so: Chinese building looks just like Star Trek's USS Enterprise". Mashable. Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  15. ^ Plumbline Pictures (July 16, 2012). "Neil deGrasse Tyson at the Starship Smackdown, Comic-Con 2012". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  16. ^ National Geographic (November 27, 2015). Millennium Falcon or Starship Enterprise? - Fan Question. StarTalk. YouTube. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
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Enterprise, ISS Category:Star Trek lists

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