TheStar Trek franchise features many spacecraft. Various space vessels make up the primary settings of theStar Trek television series, films, and expanded universe; others help advance the franchise's stories. Throughout the franchise's production,spacecraft have been depicted by numerous physical and computer-generated models. Producers worked to balance often tight budgets with the need to depict convincing, futuristic vessels.
Beyond their media appearances,Star Trek spacecraft have been marketed as models, books, and rides. Filming models have sold for thousands of dollars at public auction.
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The originalStar Trek television series (1966–1969) established key tenets of theStar Trek franchise: an intrepid, diverse crew traveling through space and encountering the unknown.[2]Matt Jefferies designed the crew's spaceship, theUSSEnterprise. Jefferies' experience withaviation led to hisEnterprise designs being imbued with what he called "aircraft logic".[3] Series creatorGene Roddenberry wanted the ship's design to convey speed, power, a "shirt sleeve" working environment, and readiness for a multiyear mission.[4] Roddenberry insisted the ship not have fins or rockets;[4] Jefferies also avoided repeating fictional designs fromBuck Rogers andFlash Gordon, along with the real-world space exploration work done byBoeing,Douglas Aircraft Company,Lockheed Corporation,NACA,NASA, andNorthrop.[5] With Roddenberry's speed requirement, Jefferies decided the ship needed to be instantly recognizable from a distance, and that speed could be conveyed by the ship starting small in the background and growing as it accelerates toward the camera.[4] Jefferies imagined the ship's engines were so powerful they would be dangerous to be near, hence the pair of external warp nacelles.[6] Jefferies initially designed the habitable portion of the ship as a sphere, but it conflicted with the need to suggest the ship's speed.[4] Although Jefferies wanted to avoid the cliche of a "flying saucer", the saucer-shaped upper portion of the hull eventually became part of the final design.[4] Jefferies kept the exterior as plain as possible, both to allow light to play across the model and to suggest that the ship's vital equipment was on the interior, where it could be more readily maintained and repaired.[7] Looking at an early balsa and birchwood model of theEnterprise, Roddenberry thought the vessel would look better upside down, and aTV Guide cover once depicted it as such; ultimately, however, the show used Jefferies' arrangement.[8] The saucer module, engineering hull, and twin warp nacelle design influenced producers' designs ofStarfleet vessels throughout the franchise's spin-offs and films.[1]
The filming model's constituent parts cost under $600.[10] TheEnterprise is depicted with a registry number of "NCC-1701". Jefferies combined the "NC" of American civilianaircraft registration codes with the "CC CC" of Russian aircraft, deriving "NCC".[11] The "1701" digits were chosen for their readability on television screens.[2] Although initially lacking internal lighting, the tight budget ultimately allowed the model's starboard side to receive illuminated windows.[10] The show's limited budget also affected theEnterprise's support craft: Jefferies wanted to give the show's shuttlecraft a more aerodynamic look than theEnterprise itself, but it was too expensive to build a life-size filming model with a curved hull.[12] Ultimately, toy model companyAMT paid for the construction of the shuttle design in exchange for the rights to sell a model toy.[12] Theshuttlecraft became a key plot element in the episode "The Galileo Seven" (1967).[2] The show's tight budget meant, more often than not, producers recycled models and footage, used cheaper animation techniques, or simply omitted the appearance of spacecraft.[13] As with theEnterprise's design, alien spacecraft design inStar Trek—such as theKlingon starships' resemblance to amanta ray with a bulbous prow, andRomulan vessels'bird-of-prey markings and nomenclature—influenced future television and film productions.[9][14]
Several years afterStar Trek was canceled, Roddenberry and other producers began work for a new series,Star Trek: Phase II.[2]Paramount Pictures, recognizing the market for science-fiction films after the success ofStar Wars (1977), instead approved the production ofStar Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Many of the film's designs and models came fromPhase II, although they were recreated to provide the higher level of detail needed for a big-screen appearance.Mike Minor,Joe Jennings, Harold Michaelson,Andrew Probert,Douglas Trumbull, and Richard Tyler redesigned the USSEnterprise while retaining the television series ship's overall shape.[14][16]The Motion Picture introduced therubberband-like "snap" effect for starships going towarp speed. Like theEnterprise, the Klingon vessel retained a design reminiscent of its television appearances.[17]
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) andStar Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) introduce models—Klingon bird-of-prey, Federation starbase, merchant ship, USSExcelsior, USSGrissom, and USSReliant—that would be reused in at least one Star Trek television spin-off.[14] These models were created byIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM), which would continue to generate models and assist with special effects for subsequent films and spin-offs. Producers still used some cost-saving measures when depicting some spacecraft, such as reusing footage from previous films.William Shatner's andLeonard Nimoy's demands for "sky-high salaries" forStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) caused the studio to plan for a new television series.[18] The seven-year production ofStar Trek: The Next Generation overlapped with those ofStar Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) andStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)—and while those two films made heavy use ofNext Generation sets, few spacecraft model assets were shared between the television and film projects.[19]
Among the first to join the design team ofStar Trek: The Next Generation (1986–1994) were Probert,Rick Sternbach, andMichael Okuda.[20] The three had not only worked on theStar Trek films, but also had experiences working in science and aerospace.
| Ship | Appearance | Designed by | Production notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borg cube | "Q Who" (1989) | Richard James andRick Sternbach | Nominated for anEmmy Award[21] |
| Borg variant | "Descent" (1993) | Dan Curry[22] | |
| CardassianGalor class | "The Wounded" (1991) | Sternbach | Reminiscent of anankh,[23] a symbol chosen because the Cardassians are likepharaohs to the enslavedBajorans.[24] |
| USSEnterprise-C | "Yesterday's Enterprise" (1990) | Andrew Probert and Sternbach | First appearance of anAmbassador-class ship[14] |
| USSEnterprise-D | "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987) | Probert | First appearance of aGalaxy-class ship[14] |
| Ferengi marauder | "The Last Outpost" (1987) | Jein and Probert | Inspired by the shape of ahorseshoe crab[25] |
| Gomtuu | "Tin Man" (1990) | Jein and Sternbach | Inspired by the thermal pods inBuckaroo Bonzai[26] |
| Husnock ship | "The Survivors" (1989) | Tony Meininger | Reused as aPromellian derelict[27] |
| KlingonVor'cha class | "Reunion" (1990) | Jein and Sternbach | Follows originalStar Trek design while reflecting Klingon-Federation alliance[28] |
| USSKyushu | "The Best of Both Worlds" (1990) | Ed Miarecki | Created by combining anEnterprise-D model with custom parts.[14] First appearance of aNew Orleans-class ship. |
| USSPasteur | "All Good Things..." (1994) | Bill George | Based on a camera-ready "Olympic-class" model George created.[29] Ultimately labeled as aHope-class starship.[14] |
| USSPhoenix | "The Wounded" | Jein | Based on a desktop model created by Ed Miarecki.[30] First appearance of aNebula-class ship. |
| Romulan warbird | "The Neutral Zone" (1988) | Jein and Probert[31] | |
| USSStargazer | "The Battle" (1987) | Probert and Sternbach | Based on a kitbash and created as an alternative to reusing movie-eraEnterprise model.[32] First appearance of aConstellation-class ship. |
| Vulcan starship | "Unification" (1991) | Jein and Sternbach[33] |
Roddenberry envisioned the new series occurring in an era when people were preoccupied with improving the quality of life, and he emphasized this point in calling for a larger, brighter, and less-sterileUSSEnterprise than the ship in the originalStar Trek.[20] Probert's design of the newEnterprise was based on a "what if?" painting he created after designing the refitEnterprise forThe Motion Picture.[34] It suggested a merging of technology and design into a sleeker ship, yet retained the overall shape of a saucer section, engineering hull, and warp engine nacelles from the original television show.[34] The finalEnterprise-D design was revealed to the public in a July 1987 column inStarlog.[34] After rejecting the idea of using CGI for special effects and shooting miniatures, the producers hired ILM—which worked extensively on theStar Trek films—to build a pair ofEnterprise models. Six modelmakers, led byStar Trek film veteran Greg Jein, built the models for $75,000.[35] Another model was created midway through the third season.[36] ILM also created the distinct "rubberband" effect of theEnterprise going to warp speed—an effect initially created forThe Motion Picture.[17][37]
The new series' creators were concerned that budget constraints forThe Next Generation could be even more of a problem for them as they had been for the originalStar Trek.[38] To help avoid them, the producers reused and recycled sets, models, props, and footage created for the movie franchise;[19] the development ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine also saw resources being shared across the two television series.[39][40][41] ILM created a catalog of effects shots, which they thought would help the show save money.[35] In practice, however, the catalog was insufficient to meet the show's needs, and using catalog footage as an element in a shot placed constraints on the movement of shooting models added to the shot. By the end of the first season, the producers moved away from that catalog. Robert Legato, who supervised the show's in-house visual effects, was eventually able to enhance the appearance of shooting models by using a moving camera for its effects shots, allowing objects in a shot to move in relation to each other.[42] WhenThe Next Generation depicts combat between spacecraft, it is usually single ship-on-ship; however, there are exceptions, such as a "Star Wars-like" battle in "Preemptive Strike" (1994) between numerous Maquis fighters and aCardassian ship.[41] According to Sternbach, there usually wasn't enough time to create and make a new ship each week;[43] nevertheless, producers created numerous new spacecraft forThe Next Generation.Dan Curry said that to conserve the budget for use on ships to be seen in close-up, small "worker bee" vessels not requiring significant detail were made out of cheap, everyday objects.[44] Additionally, theNext Generation team used models from the first three Star Trek films; theExcelsior,Grissom, andReliant models were redressed to become variousExcelsior-,Oberth-, andMiranda-class starships, respectively.[14]
The visual effects shot of the "USS Pegasus" spacecraft was a re-dress of the Oberth class model.[45] The VFX model auctioned off in 2006 byChristie's.[45] The Oberth-class was designed by David Carson, and built atIndustrial Light & Magic.[46] The model was made for the 1984 theatrical filmStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, where it depicted a ship called the "USS Grissom".[46]
As with the originalStar Trek, budget concerns delayed the construction of a full-scale shuttlecraft set until a script made the shuttle an important part of the story.[47] The firstNext Generation story to use a shuttle is "Coming of Age" (1988); for this story, Probert designed a shooting model and set-designers built one-quarter of the interior space—additional sections were built as the budget allowed.[47] Because the angular interior did not match Probert's curved vessel, a more angular shuttlepod vessel was introduced in "Time Squared (Star Trek: The Next Generation)" (1989).[47] A full-scale shuttle that matched the angular interiors was introduced in "Darmok" (1991).[48] Writers had hoped to depict the designed-but-not-built captain's yacht for "Samaritan Snare" (1989), but the budget instead led to the use of a shuttlecraft (That specific craft type's appearance would eventually appear inStar Trek: Insurrection).[49] Several shuttlecraft names are in homage to figures from science, such asMarie Curie,Farouk El-Baz,Ferdinand Magellan, andEllison Onizuka.[14]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) began production asThe Next Generation was ending. The eponymousDeep Space Nine space station took Sternbach andHerman Zimmerman several months to design.[50] The show's producers insisted that it look "weird" and distinctly non-Starfleet.[51] Every episode ofDeep Space Nine includes shots of the 6-foot (1.8 m) shooting model.[52] Sternbach and Jim Martin designed the show'srunabout vessel, conceived as a way to allow the station's crew to continue withStar Trek's main themes of exploration in a show set on an immobile space station.[53] Seven weeks went into the creation of the ship's cockpit—however, when an episode ofThe Next Generation needed to depict the runabout's living quarters, designer Richard James and set decoratorJim Mees had only nine days to both design and build the set.[39] Martin also designed theUSSDefiant under the direction ofGary Hutzel and Zimmerman.[53] TheDefiant was introduced in the third season to give the show's character greater range and capabilities when leaving the station.[54] Starting with the show's third season, spacecraft exteriors began to be computer-generated.[55] The studio VisionArt created computer models for severalDeep Space Nine ships, including theDefiant, the runabouts, andJem'Hadar vessels.[55] VisionArt also created a CGI model of the Deep Space Nine, which was used for the final shot of the series finale.[55] Digital Muse andFoundation Imaging also contributed towardDeep Space Nine's special effects and computer modeling. Although the production designers gave the new spin-off a distinct look,Deep Space Nine used numerous ship models created forThe Next Generation and, later,Star Trek: First Contact (1996).[53]
Even asThe Next Generation was ending, the actors and many of the production crew were preparing for their first film,Star Trek Generations (1994). This film saw the widening adoption of—but not sole reliance on—computer-generated vehicle models in the film franchise. The USSEnterprise-B inGenerations is a reuse of theExcelsior model inStar Trek III, and its surrounding spacedock a reconstruction—with some flattening alterations—of the frame created forThe Motion Picture. TheEnterprise-D was filmed with one of the original 6-foot (1.8 m) models created by ILM, although it was stripped down, rewired, and resurfaced to depict the level of detail needed for film.[56] The antagonists' Klingon bird-of-prey previously appeared inStar Trek, as did the rescue shuttles and orbiting rescue ships at the film's end.[58] Producers created new models of a solar observatory, along with a 12-foot (3.7 m) model of theEnterprise's saucer section. Scenes involving theEnterprise-B and theLakul in the Nexus energy ribbon were all computer-generated—in fact, no shooting model was ever made of the ill-fated El-Aurian refugee ship. Shots of theEnterprise-D going to warp were also computer-generated.[56]
The trend toward using digital models increased with subsequent films.Star Trek: First Contact (1996) introduces theSovereign-classEnterprise-E, conceived by production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustratorJohn Eaves as a larger, sleeker, faster-looking ship.[60] Based on blueprints created by Sternbach, ILM's John Goodson created a 10.5-foot (3.2 m) shooting model.[61] Goodson also created a model of thePhoenix ship, and a physical Borg cube model was needed for close-up shots.[61][62]First Contact was the lastStar Trek film to make heavy use of physical models, and many ships in the film are depicted by computer models.[63][64] In addition to the physical model, theEnterprise was also built as a computer model.[65] John Knoll worked with visual effects art director Alex Jaeger to design and create a variety of new ships to populate the opening battle against the Borg.[61] Knoll and Jaeger decided the new ships had to be consistent with Star Trek precedent, such as a saucer section and pair of warp nacelles,[62] but also could not look so similar as to be confused with the newEnterprise.[61] With these requirements in mind, Jaeger reduced 16 initial designs down to four, and created computer-generated models of theAkira-,Norway-,Saber-, andSteamrunner-class ships.[66]
ILM was not available to support the next two films,Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) andStar Trek Nemesis (2002). Santa Barbara Studies created CG models of theEnterprise and other new ships forInsurrection,[67] whileDigital Domain worked onNemesis. John Eaves designed new ships forNemesis, withDoug Drexler doing computer-generated models.[68] The antagonist'sScimitar ship was initially conceived to be a massive upgrade to the Romulan warbird designed forThe Next Generation. In designing the ship, Eaves revisited the Klingon bird-of-prey concept created forStar Trek III, retaining the "hawklike head". For the smaller Scorpion fighter, Eaves instead took inspiration from anF-18 fighter. Although the film largely used computer-generated models, Digital Domain used physical models to depict the collision between the battle-damagedEnterprise andScimitar; Digital Domain's Mark Forker said building battle-damaged models was at least twice as hard as creating models of pristine starships.[59]
By the time production began onStar Trek: Voyager (1995–2001), advances in computing allowed designers to create rough digital three-dimensional models of starships.[50] Until that point, designers could submit only sketches to executive producerRick Berman and other staffers, but "sketches can be deceiving"; the use of 3D modeling removed a degree of guesswork from the process.[69] Sternbach said the most important change in the process of creating spacecraft for the franchise was the increasing availability of CGI software and access to better-performing computers.[70] Digital Muse, Foundation Imaging, and Eden FX contributed towardVoyager's computer modeling; the latter two also worked onEnterprise.
Sternbach and Richard James, who designed the Borg cube forThe Next Generation, collaborated over several months to design theIntrepid-classUSSVoyager.[50] As withStar Trek andThe Next Generation, the show's budget did not immediately allow for the creation of a new shuttlecraft; initially, the show used one ofThe Next Generation's shuttle miniatures and interiors, with minor alterations to make it lookVoyager-specific.[71] ManyVoyager plot lines called for a shuttlecraft to be destroyed; the large number of shuttlecraft reserves the stranded starship seemed to have amused some people and bothered others.[72] Eventually, Sternbach and James collaborated to create theDelta Flyer, a more resilient shuttlecraft.[14]
Doug Drexler took four months to design the eponymousEnterprise for the fifth spinoff,Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005).[73] A predecessor to Jefferies' originalEnterprise, some elements of this ship were inspired by theAkira class inFirst Contact, and its overall compactness was inspired byDeep Space Nine'sDefiant.[73][74] Eden FX created computer-generated models for all four seasons ofEnterprise.
Producers of the 2009Star Trek film balanced between paying homage to established Star Trek lore while also reinvigorating the franchise. TheredesignedEnterprise has a "hot-rod" look while retaining a ship's traditional shape.[75] ILM was given "tremendous" leeway in creating the ship.[75] Concept artistRyan Church's initial designs were refined and developed into photo-realistic models by Alex Jaeger's team at ILM.[76] ILM's Roger Guyett recalled the originalEnterprise being "very static", and added moving components to the film's model.[75] ILM retained subtle geometric forms and patterns to allude back to the originalEnterprise.[75] The computer model's digital paint recreates the use of "interference paint", which contains small particles ofmica to alter the apparent color, used on the first three films' model.[75]
The 2001 Director's Edition ofThe Motion Picture includes 90 new and redesigned computer-generated shots produced by Foundation Imaging, many of which include a computer-generated model of theEnterprise.[77] The new shots depict more dynamic lighting and clearer senses of scale than the original release.
In September 2006,CBS began airing remastered episodes ofStar Trek. The remastered series, directed byMike Okuda, includes updated special effects shots. For example, thealternate universeEnterprise in "Mirror, Mirror" was originally depicted by the "regular"Enterprise filming model;[2] however, in the remastered version, the alternateEnterprise has different markings and hull features.[78] In contrast, Okuda said CBS' release ofThe Next Generation onBlu-rays would see "sharper [and] clearer" effects shots, but no significant changes.[79] Part of the disparity between the treatment of effects shots for the remasteredStar Trek and the Blu-ray release ofThe Next Generation is due to film archiving.[80] The studio did not store film from each individual effect element inStar Trek; it stored only the final, composite effect.[80] However, the composite prints did not scan well inhigh definition, leading to the creation of new effects elements.[80] In contrast,Paramount Studios maintained a thorough archive ofNext Generation film elements, allowing most of those to transition to Blu-ray with minimal, if any, alterations.[80] Nearly all of the spacecraft elements in theNext Generation Blu-ray will be from the original film, and there will be few corrections to production or effects errors.[80][81]
SeveralStar Trek board, roleplaying, and video games take place on and allow players to control various spacecraft.Star Trek Online (2010) developers invited fans to design theEnterprise-F, successor to the USSEnterprise-E from theNext Generation-era films. Adam Ihle submitted the winning design, anOdyssey-class starship that will[when?] appear in the game.Star Trek Online executive producer Daniel Stahl said Ihle's design inspired the creative team, presenting a familiar silhouette yet evolving the franchise's ship design.[82] Similarly,Simon & Schuster held a contest to design the USSTitan, a science vessel commanded byWilliam Riker about whom a series of novels has been published.[83] Sean Tourangeau's design won the contest, which was scored on originality, execution, consistency with the publisher's concept notes, and consistency withStar Trek's established Starfleet style.[83] Several otherStar Trek novel lines have been created that take place on ships and stations other than those depicted in the franchise's film and television fiction.
| Spacecraft model | Estimated winning bid | Actual winning bid |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise-D | $25,000–30,000 | $500,000[84] |
| Klingon bird-of-prey | $8,000–12,000 | $260,000[85] |
| Enterprise-A | $15,000–25,000 | $240,000[86] |
| USSVoyager | $10,000–15,000 | $110,000[87] |
| Deep Space Nine | $8,000–12,000 | $110,000[88] |
| USSLakota (redressed USSExcelsior) | $3,000–5,000 | $110,000[89] |
| USSEnterprise-E | $8,000–12,000 | $100,000[90] |
| USSDefiant | $6,000–8,000 | $85,000[91] |
| Klingon battlecruiser | $3,000–5,000 | $85,000[92] |
The basic design of the originalEnterprise "formed the basis for one of sci-fi's most iconic images".[93] In 1992, theNational Air and Space Museum curator said "there is no other fantasy more pervasive in the conceptualization of space flight thanStar Trek".[94]The Next Generation was nominated for an Emmy for its depiction of the Borg cube in "Q Who".[21]Star Trek: The Experience included a shuttlecraft ride simulator.[95] Spacecraft filming models made up nine of the ten highest-bid items inChristie'sStar Trek: The Collection auction.[96]
AMT's model of the originalEnterprise's shuttlecraft sold over one million units.[12] In 1989,Ertl released a model kit that includedThe Next Generation's Ferengi marauder, Klingon bird-of-prey, and Romulan warbird.[31] AMT released aVor'cha-class model in 1991.[97]Galoob createdMicro Machines of various Star Trek starships from 1993 to 1997, andHallmark createdChristmas ornaments of the original series shuttlecraft, Romulan warbird, and Klingon bird-of-prey.
In 2011,Simon & Schuster published theStarship Spotter, a collection of images of various spacecraft inStar Trek.[98] Since 2002,Star Trek illustrator and designer Doug Drexler has led development of an annualShip of the Line calendar featuring images and information about various spacecraft from theStar Trek franchise.[69]
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