Enterprise orUSSEnterprise, often referred to as theStarshipEnterprise, is the name ofseveral spacecraft in theStar Trek science fiction franchise.
TheEnterprise made for theoriginalStar Trek television series has been called an iconic design, and it influenced subsequent spacecraft in and outside the franchise. Several vessels namedEnterprise have been the main setting for variousStar Trek spinoff series and films.
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Ship:USSEnterprise, NCC-1701
Introduction:Star Trek (1966–1969)
The USSEnterprise, led by CaptainJames T. Kirk, is the main setting of the originalStar Trek series andStar 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.Enterprise footage wasrotoscoped for its depiction in the animated spinoff.[2]
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Ship:Refit USSEnterprise, NCC-1701
Introduction:Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Jefferies created an updatedEnterprise design for theStar Trek: Phase II series. He left the project whenPhase II halted and production began on the firstStar Trek film,Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Several artists, includingAndrew Probert, contributed to the film redesign. Several aspects of the ship, such as the engine nacelle grills, were influenced byart deco. The ship's significantly different appearance compared to the television show was attributed to an 18-month refit. The ship is heavily damaged inStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), and it is destroyed inStar Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
Ship:USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-A
Introduction:Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Captain Kirk is given command of a new vessel namedEnterprise at the end ofStar Trek IV. 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 the next two films,Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) andStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). The ship is ordereddecommissioned at the end of the sixth film, and it later appears as part of the Starfleet Museum in thethird season ofStar Trek: Picard (2023).
Ship:USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-D
Introduction:Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
Andrew Probert designed theEnterprise created for the franchise's return to television, taking place on a newEnterprise led by CaptainJean-Luc Picard 70 years after the events in the original series. ThisEnterprise also appears in the first film featuring theNext Generation cast,Star Trek Generations (1994). The ship's engineering section is destroyed inGenerations, but its saucer section crash lands on an alien planet. In the third season ofStar 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 Fleet Museum.
Ship: USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-C
Introduction: "Yesterday's Enterprise" (1990) episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generation
A third-season episode ofThe Next Generation includes a depiction of theEnterprise-D's predecessor, theEnterprise-C.Rick Sternbach used an illustration created by Andrew Probert as the design basis for theEnterprise-C, executing a final design that could be more easily produced on a television episode's budget. Led by Captain Rachel Garrett, theEnterprise-C is destroyed protecting aKlingon outpost from aRomulan attack, strengthening an alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.[3]
Ship: USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-B
Introduction:Star Trek: Generations (1994)
The opening ofGenerations depicts the maiden voyage of theEnterprise-B, during which James Kirk is lost and presumed dead. The vessel serves after Kirk'sEnterprise-A and before theEnterprise-C from "Yesterday'sEnterprise". The filming model was a modification of theExcelsior created forStar Trek III, with some components added to depict damage to the ship without harming the underlying model.
Ship: USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-E
Introduction:Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
With theEnterprise-D's loss inGenerations, 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), andStar Trek: Nemesis (2002). It also appears in the first-season finale ofStar Trek: Prodigy (2022) and the series finale ofStar Trek: Lower Decks (2024). The ship is disabled or destroyed underWorf's command. In 2018 and 2019,io9 andSyFy, respectively, ranked theEnterprise-E, as the third-best version of starshipEnterprise of theStar Trek franchise.[4][5] In 2014,a building in China was designed to resemble the ship.[6]
Ship:Enterprise, NX-01
Introduction:Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)
Starfleet'sEnterprise is the main setting ofStar Trek: Enterprise, which takes places a century before the originalStar Trek. Under the command of CaptainJonathan Archer, the vessel is the first Earth-built starship capable of reachingWarp 5. Initial designs of theEnterprise were deemed too similar to the original 1960s vessel.[7] The final design, created byDoug Drexler, is based on the features of theAkira class created byAlex Jeager forStar Trek: First Contact.
Ship: USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-J
Introduction: "Azati Prime" episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise (2004)
A third-season episode ofEnterprise involves Captain Archer being transported to the 26th-centuryEnterprise-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.[8] He imagined that the vessel was so large that there would be universities and entire parks on board, with theturbolifts replaced by short rangetransporters. More than one design was created, with the final version created with elements from different designs.[9]
Ships:USSEnterprise, NCC-1701 and USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-A
Introduction:Star Trek (2009)
A newEnterprise was designed for the film franchise relaunch, which began withStar Trek and continued withStar Trek Into Darkness (2013) andStar Trek Beyond (2016). The newEnterprise was conceived as a "hot rod" while retaining elements from the originalEnterprise andMotion Picture refit. At the end ofStar Trek Into Darkness,Enterprise has started its five-year mission under Captain Kirk. The ship is destroyed inStar Trek Beyond, and a successorEnterprise, with registry NCC-1701-A, is commissioned at the film's conclusion.
Ship:USSEnterprise, NCC-1701
Introduction: "Will You Take My Hand?" episode ofStar Trek: Discovery (2018)
Star Trek: Discovery's first-season finale, and several episodes of the second season, depict the USSEnterprise under the command of CaptainChristopher Pike.Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present) focuses on Pike's command of theEnterprise, whose exterior and interiors were slightly modified from theirDiscovery appearance.John Eaves, Scott Schneider, and William Budge redesigned theEnterprise for its appearance in the streaming series.
Ship: USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-F
Introduction: "Võx" episode ofStar Trek: Picard (2023)
This ship appears in the penultimate episode ofStar Trek: Picard (2023) at the Frontier Day festival. The ship was originally designed by Adam Ihle as part of a fan competition forStar Trek Online.[10] Ihle's design has a "familiar and recognizable" shape while also offering an evolution in design.[10]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.[11]
Ship: USSEnterprise, NCC-1701-G
Introduction: "The Last Generation" episode ofStar Trek: Picard (2023)
The USSTitan is the main setting for the third season ofStar Trek: Picard. In the series finale, that vessel is renamed USSEnterprise and placed under the command of CaptainSeven of Nine. The ship is based on designs by Bill Krause.
Time described each iteration of theEnterprise as "a character in its own right".[13]io9 ranked the original design of theEnterprise as the best version of theEnterprise lineage, characterizing the original as still superior to all later versions.[14] By contrast,SyFy ranked the refit design of theEnterprise fromThe Motion Picture and its sequels as the franchise's best.[15]
Over many decades, the starship has influenced activities ofNASA. This includes a successful letter writing campaign by fans to name the initial flight-testSpace ShuttleEnterprise,[16][17] and NASA's decision to name itsIXSEnterprise advanced propulsion concept vehicle after theStar Trek vessel.[18]NetDragon Websoft based the design of itsFuzhou headquarters building on theEnterprise-E under an official license from CBS.[19]
Celebrity astrophysicistNeil deGrasse Tyson has spoken highly of the influence and legacy of theoriginalEnterprise 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 originalEnterprise], and that's the flying saucer fromThe Day the Earth Stood Still. So, what matters here is, what did [theEnterprise] 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."[20] On the ship's influence upon scientists, Tyson wrote, "TheEnterprise 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."[21]
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