The original Star Trek and first films 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).
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 was
rotoscoped for its depiction in the animated spinoff.
Ship:
Refit USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 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).
Ship:
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A Introduction:
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Captain Kirk is given command of a new vessel named
Enterprise at the end of
Star 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) and
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). The ship is ordered
decommissioned at the end of the sixth film, and it later appears as part of the Starfleet Museum in the
third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023).
The Next Generation productions 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 events 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 Fleet Museum. ".
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 episode's 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.
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.
Ship: USS
Enterprise, NCC-1701-E
Introduction: Star Trek: First Contact (1996) With the
Enterprise-D's loss 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. In 2018 and 2019,
io9 and
SyFy, respectively, ranked the
Enterprise-E, as the third-best version of starship
Enterprise of the
Star Trek franchise. In 2014,
a building in China was designed to resemble the ship.
Return to television Ship: Enterprise, NX-01 Introduction:
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005) Starfleet's
Enterprise is the main setting of
Star Trek: Enterprise, which takes places a century before the original
Star Trek. Under the command of Captain
Jonathan Archer, the vessel is the first Earth-built starship capable of reaching
Warp 5. Initial designs of the
Enterprise were deemed too similar to the original 1960s vessel. The final design, created by
Doug Drexler, is based on the features of the
Akira class created by
Alex Jeager for
Star Trek: First Contact. ".
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. 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.
Film franchise reboot 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 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.
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 the penultimate episode of
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. Ihle's design has a "familiar and recognizable" shape while also offering an evolution in design.
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==