Starship Enterprise
Videos
Page
Enterprise or USS Enterprise, often referred to as the Starship Enterprise, is the name of several fictional spacecraft, some of which are the main craft and setting for various television series and films in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The most notable were Captain James T. Kirk's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) from the original 1960s television series, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
XCV 330
NX-01, main setting of Star Trek: Enterprise
NCC-1701
NCC-1701-A
Spacecraft in Star Trek
Videos
Page
The Star Trek franchise features many spacecraft. Various space vessels make up the primary settings of the Star 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.
Matt Jefferies' design of the USS Enterprise—featuring a saucer section, engineering hull, and external engine nacelles—established a design schema that influenced the Star Trek franchise's future television and film spin-offs.
The original series' Klingon cruiser design was retained for the first Star Trek film, and the motif of a manta ray-type hull with a bulbous prow influenced the design of Klingon vessels in subsequent films and spin-offs.
Industrial Light & Magic's William George based his USS Excelsior design on what he thought the Enterprise would look like if it were designed by the Japanese. The model retains the distinct hull features of Matt Jefferies' Enterprise. Redresses of the Excelsior model, and later digital versions, were heavily used throughout the franchise.
Star Trek Generations (1994) mainly features one of the original Enterprise-D models Industrial Light & Magic created for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994). The model was rewired and resurfaced for film presentation. Although a more-detailed Enterprise model was created midway through The Next Generation's run, one of the originals was used for the film because it was the only one capable of depicting the saucer section's (foreground) separation from the engineering hull.