star trek starship original name

Designing the First Enterprise

In 1964, everything that would become Star Trek rested in the handful of typewritten pages that had convinced Desilu Studios to enter into a three-year television deal with Gene Roddenberry. Those pages described the mission of the USS Yorktown , a spaceship with a crew of 200 commanded by Robert T. April. Landing parties would be beamed down to planets by an energy matter scrambler, stay in contact with the Yorktown on their telecommunicators and protect themselves with laser beam weapons.

The terminology was still to be refined, but the cornerstone of a billion-dollar entertainment franchise was solidly in place. When NBC committed to ordering a pilot episode in June 1964, it was time to start building the franchise’s foundation. As Star Trek producer Gene Coon put it, “Gene created a totally new universe.” Television being a visual medium, the question was: what should this new universe look like?

The USS Enterprise was launched in 2245 and made its television debut 279 years earlier on September 8, 1966. More than any other artifact created for the series, the Enterprise represented Star Trek . It was as much a character as Mr Spock. And like its human (or organic) counterparts, it has changed shape but never its name; changed configuration, but never its mission. From its inception to its demise, Matt Jefferies’ starship has been beloved by millions of fans.

As art director, Walter Matthew “Matt” Jefferies was assigned to design the Starship Enterprise . “In my approach to Star Trek , I wanted to be as practical as possible,” he told Star Trek: The Magazine in an interview that was published in 2000. “I could tell Gene was serious enough, but I really didn’t know where to start. I knew the Enterprise was going to be on the cutting edge of the future, but essentially he gave me the job of finding a shape and I didn’t know what the shape looked like.”

Although Roddenberry knew a lot about his ship, he had never visualized it. His only guidelines were a list of what he did not want to see — no rockets, no jets, no firestreams. The starship was not to look like a vintage science-fiction rocketship, but neither could it resemble anything that would too quickly date the design.

Gene described the 100-150 man crew, outer space, fantastic, unheard of speed and that we didn’t have to worry about gravity. He had emphasized that there were to be no fins, no wings, no smoke trails, no flames, no rocket.

Somewhere between the cartoons of the past and the reality of the present, Matt Jefferies had to get at a design of the future.

In the 1960s, the benchmark for dramatic science fiction was Lost in Space and the popular image of futuristic space travel was the flying saucer. Jefferies’ early sketches reflect this. But Roddenberry wanted something that could host a larger crew, a ship that could travel at incredible speeds, so he told Jefferies to go back to the drawing board.

His next proposal was the now familiar “ringship”, which appeared on display in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . (See The Ringship Enterprise Mystery Solved .) Roddenberry rejected this too.

Extremely powerful

The theory that space could be warped was first proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905 and first demonstrated, according to Star Trek , by Zefram Cochrane in 2063, proving that objects could travel faster than the speed of light.

Warp drive is a delicately balanced, intricate web of chemistry, physics, mathematics and mystery. “I was concerned about the design of ship that Gene told me would have warp drive,” Jefferies remembered.

I thought, ‘What the hell is warp drive?’ But I gathered that this ship had to have powerful engines — extremely powerful. To me, that meant that they had to be designed away from the body. Boy, I tried a lot of ideas. I wanted to stay away from the flying saucer shape. The ball or sphere, as you’ll see in some of the sketches, was my idea, but I ended up with the saucer after all. Gene would come in to look over what I was doing and say, ‘I don’t like this,’ or, ‘This looks good.’ If Gene liked it, he’d ask the boss [Herbert Solow] and if the boss liked it, then I’d work on that idea for a while. For the hull, I didn’t really want a saucer because of the term flying saucer and the best pressure vessel of course is a ball, so I started playing with that. But the bulk got in the way and the ball just didn’t work. I flattened it out and I guess we wound up with a saucer! I did it in color on a black matt board, and by the time I finished I thought we really had something.

It worked. “It looked better than the other sketches and Gene said, ‘That one looks good!’ They — and Bobby Justman too when he came aboard later — were a dream to work with.”

Smooth surface

Although they now had a shape, it was not the end of Jefferies’ efforts. He theorized that since space was such a dangerous place, starship engineers would not put any important machinery on the outside of the vessel. This meant that, logically, the hull should be smooth.

Not everyone agreed and Jefferies had to fight his corner. “I constantly had to fight anyone who wanted to put surface details on the thing,” he says.

Another advantage of the smooth design was that it would reflect light, and at this point it was not a foregone conclusion that the ship would be white.

I thought the atmosphere or lack of it out there in space might produce different colors, and this gave us a chance to be able to play light and to throw color on it.

Registry number

Jefferies was also responsible for the Enterprise ‘s famous registry number.

I wanted a very simple number that could be spotted quickly. You’d have to eliminate 3, 6, 8 and 9, so I just went for 1701, which incidentally and coincidentally, happens to be very close to the license number on my airplane — NC-17740. But I have never really stepped out and squashed the rumor that the number on the Enterprise came off my airplane.

After the number had been decided, Jefferies would explain that the Enterprise was Starfleet’s seventeenth starship design and that it was the first in its series, hence the number “1701.”

19 comments

No doubt the greatest-ever space ship design. I remember watching Star Trek in the 1970’s, and like most kids back then making the AMT model kit of the Enterprise . Who would have thought that in the year 2012 and at the age off 44 that I’d still be building this kit!

Waaait. So according to this, the Next Gen Enterprise should be NCC-1705!

No. The original 1701 registry number was kept to honor the original, the letter designation is similar to British monarchs choosing their ruling name, like King George III (the third).

Ya, I read most of this in an old book called The Making of Star Trek , it came out sometime just after the end of The Original Series .

I know it’s about 8 years later in posting this, but The Making of Star Trek came out after the second season. That’s why at the end it only lists episodes from Seasons 1 and 2. And near the end, it actually acknowledges that a third season was, at the time, still in doubt.

Correct Chis. When it comes to the Enterprise and all here variants, “normal” Starfleet numbering doesn’t matter.

Gene Roddenberry had just a couple of basic rules about how warp drive worked that Franz Joseph did not care about. One was two nacelles only, that create a warp field between them. No third nacelle! Only in pairs! Nothing placed between the pairs. Simple rules that wipes out almost all of Joseph’s designs. Matt Jefferies created a beautiful timeless design under Gene Roddenberry’s supervision, that I personally have been obsessing over for forty years.

No, Roddenberry invented those rules after collaborating with Franz Joseph on the Technical Manual . They had a falling out, and Roddenberry wanted to discredit FJ’s designs after the fact.

All science-fiction films, up until this point, were either flying saucers or some sort of V-2 rocket ship. The simplicity of combining the two was magic, and totally new. The design of the first Klingon cruiser was simply creating a ship with the exact opposite constructs as the Enterprise herself. Amazingly simple!

I understand Jeffries’ seventeenth design, first ship concept in ‘1701’ but it doesn’t make sense when applied to the Constellation , NCC-1017. How can ‘sister’ ships in the same class be seven designs apart?

My personal theory is that the Constellation was a complete refit from an earlier class that was very similar in design. Much like the Enterprise going through her refit and the ships built after, from the keel up, are considered by some to be of the new Enterprise class. Because she it was a refit, the Constellation kept its original registry number. In the case of the Constitution class, NCC-1700 was the first one built from the keel up.

Wasn’t the Constellation just an AMT model kit? And with only “NCC-1701” printed as decals, they simply switched around the digits to make them different.

I never could work out why they didn’t go with NCC-1710 for Constellation to stay in some kind of sequence with NCC-1701. Guess they never figured on the series living on in the minds of fans long enough for details like registry numbers to start to be questioned!

I worked on the infamous Unobtanium Enterprise replica, and got to sit in and talk with Matt Jefferies on quite a few occasions. One of the first, he came by the shop and pulled out a sheaf of papers, and the black-and-white designs that you have above were all within it. They were all auctioned off individually not long after (in the same auction where the original production layout model was sold, which we got to see in person before it went to the auction house). It was great getting to talk to him about everything from his original concepts to the “flipping” of the design (right side up to upside down). We were lucky though, we had an original D7, a Tholian ship, and others to actually hold and work from. He was super cool, and I am glad I got to work with him.

As far as the registry number is concerned, that’s all explained and made clear in The Starship Designer , in the part “About My Starships”

I think is is so cool. We are talking about a TV show from the 1960s!

Matthew Jefferies is my great uncle. As a mechanical/civil engineer, I truly appreciate the aerospace engineering thought and design that went into this craft.

Thanks for your comment, Eric, and thank you for reading the site!

Ship of dreams. Escape vessel from worldly cares. It made my life more bearable

Does anyone know when the Enterprise was first referred to as “a starship” by the people making the show?

Submit comments by email .

The History Of The Starship Enterprise Explained

Launched in 1966 as a prime time science fiction drama, " Star Trek " has gone on to become one of the world's most famous franchises. But what made it so impactful wasn't just its compelling stories and lively characters — there's also the ship on which the series was set, the USS Enterprise. Arguably the most beloved starship in science fiction, the Enterprise — whose registry NCC-1701 is famous in its own right — has become a pop culture icon, and may be as recognized across the globe as the American flag or the McDonald's golden arches.

Since its introduction, each new era has had its own new iteration of the Enterprise: It was redesigned as the 1701-A in the feature films, and in 1987 " Star Trek: The Next Generation " introduced the Enterprise-D. By the turn of the millennium there was even a prequel spinoff named for the vessel, and in 2022, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" ventured back aboard the original classic starship.

With a new Enterprise-F making its debut in "Star Trek: Picard," it's time to explore the indelible legacy of the famous Federation flagship. So clear all moorings and ahead one quarter impulse power, because we're leaving space dock and setting a course to explore the history of the starship Enterprise.

Pioneering Enterprises

In the real world, there have been ships named the Enterprise as far back as the early 1700s, including the British Royal Navy's HMS Enterprize. In the United States, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was the USS Enterprise , commissioned in 1961, which even became a key location in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." The space shuttle Enterprise, meanwhile, was the first spacefaring ship to bear the name, both in "Trek" and the real world. Of course, that one was named after the "Star Trek" starship thanks to a letter-writing campaign from fans.

In the fictional world of "Star Trek," the first deep space starship to go by the name Enterprise was actually a vessel we have yet to see outside of historical images. With a registry of XCV-330, what little we know of it comes from background details, as it is seen as part of a series of images of past Enterprises in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," as well as in Captain Forrest's office on "Enterprise." The only physical representation we have seen so far was actually in the JJ Abrams-directed "Star Trek: Into Darkness," where a model of the early Enterprise appears on the desk of Admiral Marcus.

Though little is known about this pre-Federation starship, we do know that it was based on an unused design from series artist Matt Jeffries before he settled on the Enterprise for the 1966 TV series.

Archer's first warp 5 vessel

Before the launch of "Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2001, fans had always believed that Kirk's Constitution Class Enterprise was the first Starfleet vessel to go by that name. But in a major retcon, the series introduced the NX-01, Starfleet's first flagship, proudly bearing the name Enterprise on its hull.

Earth's first-ever Warp 5 starship, its revolutionary new engine was capable of speeds never before dreamt of. The engine had been designed by Henry Archer, a protege of warp drive creator Zefram Cochrane, whose son Jonathan would become the ship's first captain. But when the engine was still in development, serious questions were raised about its readiness, and were it not for the efforts of Jonathan Archer and former rival pilot A.G. Robinson, it may have been scrapped altogether.

Launched in 2151 on a mission to deliver an injured Klingon back to his people, the NX-01 had primitive phase cannons but was without much of the advanced technology fans are familiar with from other shows, lacking energy shields, photon torpedoes, and tractor beams. The ship still managed to become legendary, serving at the forefront of the Xindi War, and was the ship Archer captained when he brought the Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites together to eventually form the United Federation of Planets. According to the series' finale, this Enterprise was decommissioned in 2161 and placed into a fleet museum.

Kirk's classic connie

The original USS Enterprise may not be the first one chronologically in canon, but it is the first that fans saw, and the one most people think of when they hear the name. Its groundbreaking design by concept artist Matt Jeffries combined classic sci-fi tropes — the large saucer and rocket-shaped nacelles — to form an instantly recognizable silhouette that may never be outdone.

For three years on the original "Star Trek" series, the ship traveled to strange new worlds and sought out new life and new civilizations, captained by James T. Kirk on his five-year mission to chart the edges of the final frontier. While much of its design — particularly its interior — may seem dated to today's younger audience, it lives forever in the hearts and minds of Trek fans. It was lovingly recreated for episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Enterprise," in episodes that revisited the classic Constitution Class.

A place sci-fans called home in '60s, it was aboard the original "Connie" that Trek fans first learned about phasers, photon torpedoes, and transporters. But interestingly, when it was first developed by series creator Gene Roddenberry, it was designed to be a ship with a history, and Kirk was later revealed to be the ship's third captain. In service in this form for more than two decades in-universe, it would later see a new look when "Trek" warped to the movies.

Refit for the big screen

Thanks to renewed popularity in reruns in the '70s, a revival of "Star Trek" was launched in theaters. With a bigger budget and a bigger screen, a new design for the starship Enterprise was in order, and after some radically different new concepts were considered, what would leave space dock was an updated version of the original that kept the same basic design, with some streamlined shapes and a lot more detail.

In fact, the remodel of the Enterprise serves as a major plot point in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which opens after an 18-month retrofit process that overhauls the starship with a nearly ground-up reconstruction. As a result, new captain William Decker objects to Kirk's reassignment to the captain's chair because of Kirk's unfamiliarity with many of the new systems. Sure enough, his lack of knowledge does wind up causing problems during the refitted Enterprise's first mission.

Eventually, this updated starship became a fan favorite in its own right. But while the refit Enterprise would meet its end in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," with Kirk forced to destroy the ship to stop a gang of marauding Klingons, it was replaced shortly thereafter with the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. Nearly identical, save for some interiors which were now redressed sets from "The Next Generation," which was then-currently airing, the Enterprise-A began a long-standing tradition of tacking on an alphabetic suffix to new starships in the line.

The successor

Following the introduction of the Enterprise-A in the 1986 film "The Voyage Home," the next ship we'd see with that name was actually the Enterprise-D, which debuted just a year later in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." We would hear nothing about the Enterprise-B until the cast of "TNG" moved to the big screen themselves, in 1994's "Star Trek: Generations."

The film that brought two eras of "Star Trek" together, it opens with the first flight of the Enterprise-B, in a ceremony attended by Captain Kirk. A state-of-the-art starship of the same class as the Excelsior seen in in "Star Trek III" — which was then under the command of Captain Sulu — this new Enterprise voyaged under the captaincy of John Harriman. Though its first mission was originally planned as little more than a trip around the solar system, it got forced into a rescue effort when a strange phenomenon threatened a nearby ship. But as it was only meant to be on a promotional tour, the Enterprise-B was without tractor beams, photon torpedoes, and medical staff.

Swinging into action, Captain Kirk saved the day and sacrificed himself to save the endangered ship. But just as many books, comics, and other media have explored the further adventures of Captain Harriman and the Enterprise-B — including its helmswoman, the daughter of Captain Sulu — we have yet to learn much more about it onscreen.

The lost warrior

Making its first appearance in the third season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the Enterprise-C is another ship of the line that we only ever saw once. In this case, it's in the acclaimed episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," a story that regularly ranks among the show's very best. In the episode, Picard and the Enterprise-D encounter a rift in space through which the Enterprise-C emerges, having traveled forward 22 years, altering history.

In this diverged dark timeline, the Federation is on the losing end of a decades-long war with the Klingons, and the disappearance of the Enterprise-C two decades before is a big reason why. As it turns out, the Enterprise-C — under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett — came to the aid of a Klingon outpost that was under attack, helping to smooth relations with their rivals, eventually leading to peace with the Federation.

Ultimately, after Garrett is killed in the divergent timeline, the Enterprise-C returns to the past to fulfill its destiny and restore history, but takes with it an alternate version of Tasha Yar from the Enterprise-D. Despite history recording the loss of all hands, we'd later learn that survivors from the Enterprise-C were taken prisoner on Romulus, including Yar, who would wind up giving birth to the villainous Commander Sela. Like its predecessor, what we learn in this episode is all we know officially of the Enterprise-C.

Picard's Enterprise-D

The Enterprise that led the landmark 1987 spinoff "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the 1701-D was designed by Andrew Probert , a protege of "Star Wars" concept designer Ralph McQuarrie who had been briefly hired to conceptualize the new Enterprise for the first "Star Trek" feature film. Recommended by McQuarrie to join the film's design team, Probert sketched up an early idea of for a new ship that later formed the basis for the Enterprise-D.

Nearly twice as large as Kirk's classic Enterprise, this 24th century Galaxy Class starship could go much faster, topping out at warp 9.9 (as opposed to Kirk's warp 8), and had a new feature that allowed the saucer to separate from the body of the ship during crisis. The Enterprise-D was outfitted with plenty of new technology too, including the virtual reality rooms called holodecks that have since become a "Trek" staple. It was also the first starship seen onscreen to house families, children, and schools, making it essentially an entire community on a starship. Believe it or not, the Enterprise also has a group of hyper-intelligent dolphins that help steer the ship, in a section called Cetacean Ops, that's only briefly mentioned but never seen.

Commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard , it was the Federation flagship seen through all seven seasons of "The Next Generation" and the crew's first feature film, "Star Trek: Generations." In the climax of that movie, the Enterprise-D crashed on Veridian III, sustaining catastrophic damage that would require its retirement from service.

A sovereign for all seasons

The first film to feature the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" saw few dramatic changes during their move to cinemas. But for its follow-up, "Star Trek: First Contact," they were given a facelift: in addition to an entirely new uniform design, Picard and his crew received a new starship, the USS Enterprise-E. A Sovereign Class ship, it marked a departure from the smoother curves of the Enterprise-D and other "TNG" starships in favor of a more militant, angular design, created by illustrator John Eaves, who continued to contribute to the franchise with designs for "Star Trek: Picard" and "Star Trek: Discovery."

Upgraded with cutting-edge weapons like quantum torpedoes, the Enterprise-E went toe-to-toe with the Borg on its first adventure, during which it was partially assimilated by the cyborg collective. The Enterprise-E continued to be the hero ship in the rest of the "TNG" feature films, including "Star Trek: Insurrection" and "Star Trek: Nemesis." While the Dominion War raged, as seen on "Deep Space Nine," the Enterprise-E was held back from the front lines, instead consigned to diplomatic duties.

During its time in the films, the crew of the Enterprise-E largely remained the same as on "TNG," but the conclusion of "Nemesis" saw Riker take command of his own starship, and Picard receive a new first officer. Though we know its service continued for some years, its further adventures have never been explored officially.

The next Enterprise

When "Star Trek: Picard" premiered in 2020, it was the first time we'd seen the franchise dip its toe into the events that followed its final "TNG" feature film, and many had high hopes of seeing a new starship Enterprise. Though the first two seasons of the series didn't give the audience that gift, Trek fans finally got what they were hoping for with the third trailer for the show's third season, and the first look at the USS Enterprise-F, an all-new Odyssey Class starship.

The direct successor to Picard's Enterprise seen in the films, this new flagship is the first Enterprise to voyage in the 25th century, and while its appearance brought applause from fans, it's not actually the first time we've seen it. In fact, the Enterprise-F was first introduced as a playable starship in "Star Trek: Online," a massively multiplayer online game, in a mission simply titled "The Odyssey Class" all the way back in 2012. And what's even more remarkable is that the design of the starship was created as the winning entry of a fan contest.

The design came from a concept artist and sculptor out of Florida named Adam Ihle, and was announced as the winner in July of 2012. A natural evolution of the Sovereign Class, it's a heavy cruiser that, in the game, was developed by Starfleet to be the most powerful starship in the fleet. Now, the design is the latest successor in the Enterprise legacy onscreen, too.

Pike's flagship reborn

At the tail end of Season 2 of "Star Trek: Discovery," fans got a jaw-dropping surprise with the arrival of the classic Enterprise commanded by Captain Pike, James T. Kirk's immediate predecessor. But this was a reimagined version of the iconic starship, updated for modern audiences. Eventually, Captain Pike, Mr. Spock, and Number One got their own spinoff series, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," set aboard this refurbished Enterprise with a new look.

Canonically it's the same Enterprise that was commanded by Captain Kirk in the original "Star Trek" series, but this time, its differences are not the result of a refit or maintenance overhaul. Instead, producers felt it was important to update the design, inside and out, to keep up with audience expectations in the 2020s ( via TrekMovie ) Mixing retro futurism with 1960s interior design aesthetics , they managed to reinvigorate the original Enterprise, creating what creator Gene Roddenberry and original designer Matt Jeffries might have crafted if they'd had the budget and means back in 1966.

The biggest changes to the starship visually are its swept-back nacelle pylons, more reminiscent of the feature film refit, and the physical windows on the bridge, a feature first seen in the JJ Abrams films. While just about every aspect of the ship has been updated, set designers and artists made sure to evoke the look and feel of Kirk's original in every aspect they could. Divisive among some fans for its many changes, this new sleeker "Connie" is now the face of the 23rd century Enterprise.

JJ's ample Enterprise

In 2009 "Star Trek" and the Enterprise got a facelift when director JJ Abrams relaunched the franchise on the big screen in a total reboot of the series. The film brought "Trek" back to its roots — and back in time too, showing us an alternate timeline where younger versions of James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, Uhura, and the rest first set foot on a newly remodeled starship Enterprise.

Redesigned from the ground up by concept artist Ryan Church — whose credentials include "Transformers" and "Avatar" — the ship has been dubbed the "JJ-prise" by fans. It kept the traditional silhouette, but featured bigger, smoother, curves and bold, bulbous, ample warp nacelles. Physically larger than the classic original, it's also much more technologically advanced, explained by the new timeline being visited by a villain from the future. It also features a clear glass viewscreen on the bridge that allows the crew to look directly into space, a major departure from previous starship designs that has since become retroactively standard, carrying over into new ships in the Prime Timeline, past and future.

Though it's initially captained by Christopher Pike, Kirk would sit in the captain's chair by the end of the first film, and command it again in its two sequels. In service through "Star Trek Beyond," the ship was damaged beyond repair by the villain Krall and replaced by a new Enterprise-A, which is seen only briefly in the film's final moments.

Enterprises of the Future

Given its science fiction nature, "Star Trek" has glimpsed into its own future more than once, and we've seen a few different Enterprises outside of the main timelines seen in the shows and movies. Some exist far off into a future we may never see onscreen, while some exist in now-erased alternate futures. In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" finale, for example, we're introduced to a then-future version of the Enterprise-D, with a radical refit boasting three nacelles and a new, massive phaser weapon under the saucer section.

But the most notable future Enterprise might be one we never quite saw, getting only a brief look on a viewscreen in an episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise." During the Xindi War storyline, Captain Archer was pulled into the far future where time-traveling agent Daniels told him about the USS Enterprise-J , a 26th century ship that carried on the legacy more than a thousand years into Archer's future. According to Daniels, this ship was part of a battle that drove a malevolent race called the Sphere Builders back to their own realm, and in this future, it even had members of the Xindi among its crew.

Though little else is known officially about the Enterprise-J, the starship eventually made its way into the "Star Trek: Online" game, and a model was later produced by Eaglemoss . With "Star Trek: Discovery" now set in the 32nd century, we may still yet see a new version of the Enterprise even further into the future.

Alternate Enterprises

From the past and present to the far future, we've seen Enterprises of all kinds, but there are even stranger versions of the Federation flagship that have been the focus of several adventures. These variant vessels usually originate in bizarre alternate realities and parallel dimensions, and have a long history themselves. The first one seen was way back in the acclaimed 1967 episode "Mirror, Mirror" that saw the ISS Enterprise under the command of a tyrannical Captain Kirk.

That same mirror universe was revisited in a 2005 two-part episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise" which saw another ISS Enterprise, this time a variant of the NX-01, under the command of Maximillian Forrest. But Forrest is assassinated by his first officer Jonathan Archer, who takes over the ship and gets caught in a power struggle with the Vulcan T'Pol. An aged, time-ravaged alternate future NX-01 was also seen in the episode "E2."

Though "The Next Generation" never ventured into the mirror universe, we did see a more militant version of the Enterprise-D in "Yesterday's Enterprise," in a branching parallel reality created by the arrival of the Enterprise-C. In that briefly existing timeline, Picard's starship had no families, and was in fact a battle cruiser on the front lines of the war with the Klingons. Meanwhile, in the "TNG" episode "Parallels," we actually witnessed the incursion of untold numbers of Enterprises from other parallel universes, one of which had been decimated by the Borg.

Starship Database

Earth & Federation Major Aliens Various Aliens Anomalous Starships Animated Abramsverse Discoverse

The database lists all canon starships and other spaceborne constructions of the Star Trek Universe by races and classes. Schematic side views and technical specs are included where available. The data is mainly based on the very episodes and on official sources. In some cases, however, obvious errors had to be corrected. Inconsistencies or oddities are discussed in the annotations. Read more about the database structure .

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Starfleet Ship Classes L-Z 11 May 2024
Xindi Ship Classes 05 May 2024
Earth Ship Classes 05 May 2024
Mirror Universe Ships 05 May 2024
Federation Shuttlecraft 05 May 2024
Space-Dwelling Lifeforms 05 May 2024
Federation Ground Transportation 05 May 2024
Non-Existent Ships 05 May 2024
Discoverse Klingon Ship Classes 05 May 2024
Borg Ship Classes 05 May 2024
Bajoran Ship Classes 05 May 2024
Ancient or Mysterious Ships 05 May 2024
Discovery Future Alien Ship Classes 20 Apr 2024
Lower Decks Alien Ship Classes 20 Apr 2024
Starfleet Ship Classes A-K 20 Apr 2024
Delta Quadrant Ships of Unknown Affiliation 10 Apr 2024
Lower Decks Starfleet & Federation Ship Cl... 05 Apr 2024
Fleet Charts in TIFF Format 31 Mar 2024
Vulcan Ship Classes 31 Mar 2024
Fleet Chart Annotations 31 Mar 2024

Structure of the Starship Database

Fleet Charts

Starship Articles

Starship Gallery

Earth & Federation

Starfleet Ship Classes A-K

Starfleet Ship Classes L-Z

Other Starfleet Ship Classes - uncertain and unknown

Civilian Federation Ship Classes

Federation Shuttlecraft - and other small auxiliary vehicles

Federation Probes - unmanned space vehicles

Federation Space Stations - fixed spaceborne installations

Federation Ground Transportation - bound to the ground

Earth Ship Classes - Pre-Federation (prior to 2161)

Future Ship Classes - of the 26th century and beyond

Major Aliens

Vulcan Ship Classes - Pre-Federation (prior to 2161)

Klingon Ship Classes - from all eras

Romulan Ship Classes - from all eras

Ferengi Ship Classes - from all eras

Cardassian Ship Classes

Bajoran Ship Classes

Dominion and Allied Ship Classes

Borg Ship Classes

Suliban Ship Classes

Xindi Ship Classes

Various Aliens

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships A-E

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships F-K

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships L-R

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships S-Z

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Gamma Quadrant Ships

Delta Quadrant Ships A-E

Delta Quadrant Ships F-K

Delta Quadrant Ships L-R

Delta Quadrant Ships S-Z

Delta Quadrant Ships of Unknown Affiliation

Anomalous Starships

Ancient or Mysterious Ships - whose owners don't show up

Space-Dwelling Lifeforms - organic or conscious vessels

Mirror Universe Ships - from TOS, DS9 and ENT

Confederation Timeline Ships - from PIC season 2

Non-Existent Ships - that were made up for varying reasons

Animated Star Trek

TAS Starfleet & Federation Ship Classes

TAS Alien Ship Classes

Prodigy Starfleet & Federation Ship Classes

Prodigy Alien Ship Classes

Abramsverse

Abramsverse Federation Ship Classes

Abramsverse Alien Ship Classes

Discovery Future Alien Ship Classes

Discovery Mirror Universe Ship Classes

Many of the images in this section are taken from official sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia II , the Star Trek Encyclopedia (2016) the DS9 Technical Manual , the Star Trek Fact Files , Star Trek: The Magazine or the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection . Note that some of these were cleaned up and obvious errors were corrected. A number of schematics (namely Academy trainer craft, Antares NCC-501, Archer's model, Birdseye, Bonaventure from the Chronology , Centaur, Cheyenne, Constitution original, Excelsior variant 1, "Star Trek (2009)" shuttle, Mars defense perimeter, New Orleans, Ptolemy, Saladin, Springfield, Sydney, Raven, Talarian ships and variants, Tamarian ship and variants, Tosk ship and several TAS ships) are copyright of Ex Astris Scientia.

Special thanks go to Mike Swantak for the Ambassador, to Tim Davies for the Excelsiors, to Gus for the "Star Trek (2009)" Enterprise, to Sean Thornton for the Enterprise-A (alt.), to Pundus for the Odyssey, to MadMan and The-Didact for two versions of the Vengeance, to Chris G. for the "Star Trek (2009)" Spacedock, Klingon "Warbird" (models by MadMan), Whale Probe, "Nemesis" drydock (mesh by S-Stephen), TMP drydock (mesh by Prologic9), McKinley drydock (mesh by Eric Peterson), Warp Five Complex (mesh by Beda of Borg) and several images from Lower Decks, to Dávid Metlesits for the Klingon DIS ships (rendered based on models from Star Trek Adversaries), to Dave Combe for the DIS BoP and Sarcophagus ship, to C.HellenBrandt for the D'Arsay archive, Farpoint lifeform, interface probe, Melkotian buoy, ultraviolet satellite, standard D5, the "Star Trek (2009)" escape pod, forklift and more, to Ryan Church for Kirk's motorbike concept art, the Breen ship and the Klingon Augment ship, to Tobias Richter who created the USS Kelvin mesh, to James Chung for Picard concept art, to Daniel Petri for the reconstructed Aurora and the Class J from TOS-R, to Kristian Trigwell for Nomad, DY-100, DY-500, Valiant, Utopia Planitia, TAS personal spacecraft and some emblems, to Chris Spinnler for the Challenger, to Masaki Taniko who modified the Constitution refit, Miranda, Nebula variants, Curry and "Raging Queen", to Robert Bonchune for posting the official Intrepid-type, Delta ship and Kumari renders and who created many renders for recent official publications, to Doug Drexler for posting renders by several CGI artists such as Robert Bonchune, including the "Emmette", NX-Alpha, Arctic One, Arctic One Borgified, three-fingered drydock, multispatial probe, all Vulcan CGI ships, Cardassian workbee, 22nd century Ferengi ship, Nausicaan raider, all Suliban ships, Arkonian warship, Kreetassan ship, Kago Darr's shuttle, Malurian ship, Takret ship, Tandaran patrol ship, Valakian ship, Xantoran patrol ship, "Crossing" alien ship, Reptohumanoid ship and variants, Ledosian ships, Markonian outpost, Venatic, "Alice", "Silent Enemy" ship & shuttle and "Dead Stop" station, to John Eaves for the "Communicator" fighter, the Triannon vessel, the "Extinction" vessel, Xindi-Insectoid vessel 2 and the Axanar combat ship, to Irishman for drawings of Earth Starfleet ships, to Sven Lindemann for intermediate images, to Harry for parts of the early spaceship I, to Thorsten Junk for the Reman shuttle, to Raul Quiles who provided the Shuttlepod 1 and inspection pod schematics, to Kris Olinger who modified the Challenger, to Graham Kennedy for cleaning up and coloring the Starfleet probes, to Masao Okazaki for drawing the Daedalus, Bonaventure, Huron and TAS cargo drone, to Simon Golding for intermediate images, to E. Jakobsson for the Yeager and Elkins, to Jeff Russell for V'ger, to David Matteson for the NX-02 emblem, to viperaviator for the Franklin emblem, to Tobias Weimann for a couple of emblems, to Animaniac for the 22nd century Tholian ship and finally to Alice Orbán for subspace amplifier, Cardassian escape pod, Enolian vessels, Kobali shuttle, Malcorian ship, Malon freighter 2, Malurian shuttle, Mazarite shuttle & variants, Sikarian ship, Tarkalean freighter, Tellarite shuttle, Tsunkatse ship, Vissian ships, some of the Xindi ships, and several more.

Jörg Hillebrand has provided innumerable screen caps and invaluable observations. Most other screen caps are from TrekCore , Ariane's Star Trek Gallery , Cygnus-X1.net , Neutral Zone Starship Database or The Guardian of Forever. The photo of the Miranda-class USS Trial is courtesy of Larry Nemecek. Some images are based on Jim Stevenson's Starship Schematics . A reliable list of all canon starship appearances can be found in D. Joseph Creighton's The STArchive from where I extracted some useful data. Several facts about TAS ships came from Curt Danhauser's Guide to Animated Star Trek . I would also like to acknowledge The Unofficial Star Trek Fact Files Index, TrekMovie.com , Sector 0-0-1, Pedro's Shiporama, Frank Gerratana's Starfleet Ship Designs, Steve Pugh's Vessels of Starfleet, Adam Brooks , Adam Buckner, AJ, Alex Köhnen , Alexander Hartmann , Ambassador, Andrew Halliday, Andros, Andy Kinnear, B. J. Olejnik, Bounty, Brendan Stone , Brian Hunter, cardinal biggles, Colin , Dan Carlson , Daniel Anderson, DAS, doubleofive , Ed Bailey, Erich Mohr , Erik Filean, Florian Ollivier , Frank Bitterhof , George Nicolaides, Greg , Gvsualan , Harry , J , Jeff W, Jake Stotsky, Jason Schmus , Jim Morrissey , Jimmie R. Giboney, Jochen Gnida, John Mesiavech, Kevin , Kratisto, Lee McDonald , Lennier , Lester , Maik Leon Ehnert, Mariner Class, Mark Gill, Micah Haber, Michael Lanzinger, Mike , moreorlesser, Muchu, Paragon, Paul Doize, psycopunkn , Ralph Spitzner, Raymond J Impastato Jr, Rick , Rob Minnes, Robert, Scott Fletcher , Sol System, Stacy Smith, Stefan Posner, Stefan Rypalla , Stephen L. , Tadeo D'Oria, Thomas Owens , Thorsten , Trolleybus and Tuskin38 for ship pictures and information. Several more people helped me through their comments in the Flare Sci-Fi Forums . My special thanks to Colin and Boris S. who have provided lots of little-known information. Last but not least, special thanks to Michael Chabon and Dave Blass for sharing some information from behind the screen with us.

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/starship_database.htm

Last modified: 17 Mar 2024

This website is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with CBS Studios Inc. or the Star Trek franchise.

Fleet Yards

List of Star Trek Starfleet starships

This is a list of Federation starships from the Star Trek universe. The list is organized first by ship class , then registration number , name , and finally where that vessel was referenced. These vessels appear or are mentioned in the original Star Trek series ( TOS ), Star Trek: The Animated Series ( TAS ), Star Trek: The Next Generation ( TNG ), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( DS9 ), Star Trek: Voyager ( VOY ), Star Trek: Enterprise ( ENT ), Star Trek: Discovery ( DSC ), the Star Trek films , Star Trek games , and Star Trek literature . This list tries to avoid using information found in Star Trek fan fiction . Many of the sources for this list are considered non-canon and the list relies heavily on the non-canon The Star Trek Encyclopedia . [1]

Akira class

Ambassador class, andromeda class, antares class, apollo class, archer class, bradbury class, cardenas class, centaur class, challenger class, cheyenne class, chimera class, columbia class, constellation class, constitution class, crossfield class, daedalus class, defiant class, deneva class, dreadnought class, einstein class, engle class, erewhon class, excelsior class, freedom class, galaxy class, galen class, hokule‘a class, hoover class, intrepid class, istanbul class, korolev class, magee class, malachowski class, mediterranean class, merced class, merian class, miranda class, mulciber class, nebula class, new orleans class, niagara class, nimitz class, norway class, oberth class, odyssey class, olympic class, prometheus class, renaissance class, rigel class, saber class, sequoia class, shepard class, sovereign class, soyuz class, springfield class, freedom class (kelvin timeline), steamrunner class, surak class, sydney class, theophrastus class, universe class, vesta class, walker class, wambundu class, wells class, yorkshire class, zodiac class, undetermined class, non-starships and support vessels, danube class runabout, peregrine class fighter, yellowstone class runabout, shuttlecraft.

Named for Greek mythological figure and nearby Andromeda Galaxy .

Named for star Antares .

Named for the ancient Greek solar deity and the American Apollo program ( NASA ).

Scout ship introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series tie-in novel series Star Trek: Vanguard and its follow-up Star Trek: Seekers . Retroactively named after Captain Jonathan Archer from Star Trek: Enterprise .

Name honors science fiction author Ray Bradbury .

Named for United States Air Force brigadier general Robert Cardenas .

Named for the mythical chimaera .

In the script of the TNG episode " The Battle ," Geordi La Forge identified the Stargazer as a Constitution Class, but it was dubbed to Constellation after the script was changed.

Named for the USS Constitution . (The TOS USS Enterprise dedication plaque refers to this ship class as the "Starship Class".)

Constitution class refit

Ostensibly a refit of the Constitution class, this ship is referred to as " Enterprise class" in Andrew G. Probert's non-canon Star Trek The Motion Picture: 14 Official Blueprints . [52] [53]

Named for American naval officer and test pilot Albert Scott Crossfield who became the first human to fly at twice the speed of sound.

Named for an iconic figure from Greek mythology .

Named for the fictional planet in the TOS episode " Operation: Annihilate! ".

Named for Albert Einstein

Named for American test pilot and astronaut Joe Engle who test-flew the joint NASA–Air Force North American X-15 rocket airplane and the space shuttle Enterprise before eventually commanding the space shuttle Columbia .

This fictional spacecraft design was introduced to the Star Trek sci-fi universe in 1984.

The name may have been supposed to honor the space station that was later simply called ISS .

Presumably named for the Polynesian waʻa kaulua replica

Named for United States Air Force fighter pilot Bob Hoover who revolutionized modern aerobatic flying and in many aviation circles has been described as one of the greatest pilots ever to have lived.

Named for the most populous city in Turkey .

Named for spacecraft designer Sergey Korolyov .

Featured in the Star Trek: Titan novels. All known Luna -class starships were named after moons in the Sol System.

Named for Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and poet John Gillespie Magee Jr.

Named for United States Air Force pilot Nicole Malachowski who became the first female member of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds .

Named for the character in the play The Tempest by William Shakespeare . Also the name of a moon .

Name (in universe) denotes astronomical phenomenon and (real world) pays tribute to the Nebula Award for science fiction writing.

Named for the City of New Orleans . Designated as frigates .

Named for World War II Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Ships are named for the NASA Space Shuttle orbiters .

Named after the rocket scientist Hermann Oberth .

Introduced in Star Trek Online .

This class is sometimes erroneously named " Hope class" from an early version of the dedication plaque from the USS Pasteur . [1]

Named for the star Rigel .

Named for American astronaut Alan Shepard who became the first American to travel into space.

Named for the Soviet spacecraft

Named for Vulcan philosopher Surak .

Introduced in Star Trek: Destiny and first visualized in Star Trek Online .

The class was named for NASA test pilot Joe Walker .

Named in honor of science fiction author H. G. Wells .

[ citation needed ]

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Trivia In the hallways of the Enterprise there are tubes marked "GNDN." These initials stand for "goes nowhere does nothing."
Goofs The deck locations for Kirk's Quarters, Sickbay and Transporter Room vary (usually between decks 4-7) throughout the series.

Dr. McCoy : "He's dead, Jim."

Crazy credits On some episodes, the closing credits show a still that is actually from the Star Trek blooper reel. It is a close-up of stunt man Bill Blackburn who played an android in Return to Tomorrow (1968) , removing his latex make up. In the reel, He is shown taking it off, while an off-screen voice says "You wanted show business, you got it!"
Alternate versions In 2006, CBS went back to the archives and created HD prints of every episode of the show. In addition to the new video transfer, they re-did all of the model shots and some matte paintings using CGI effects, and re-recorded the original theme song to clean it up. These "Enhanced" versions of the episodes aired on syndication and have been released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Connections Edited into Ben 10: Secrets (2006)
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Star Trek Ship Names Ordered by Class – From TOS to Picard

By: Author Brad Burnie

Posted on Published: September 23, 2021 - Last updated: November 9, 2022

Star Trek Ship Names Ordered by Class – From TOS to Picard

Share the Universe!

For those who consider themselves as die-hard fans of the popular sci-fi Star Trek universe, you may already know that Star Trek’s 24 th century has some astounding array of Starfleet ships that we can stare at with admiration. Star Trek has had strong starships designs since the very beginning. Let’s dig a bit deeper to know more.

The history of Star Trek dates back to 1966-1967 with The Original Series Season 1. All this began when a writer and former Air Force pilot, Gene Roddenberry , wanted to make a science fiction TV show that featured characters that show humanity at its best.

Since then, there has been no looking back as Star Trek has become one of the most popular sci-fi television shows of all time. While it has been entertaining its audience for decades and is globally known for its genre of science fiction, it’s also known for it’s the great space battles with different alien species.

Over the years, the show came up with dozens of iconic starship designs, many of which are even known to people who don’t follow Star Trek. The idea behind the creation of these ships was to represent the diversity of various races, cultures, and factions. So, whether it’s the TOS ( The Original Series ), Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) , Deep Space Nine (DS9), Voyager, or Picard , the show has always lived up to the expectation of producing some vast fleets that demonstrated the abilities at their best.

If you have to rank these astonishing ships, what do you think? Which are the most powerful ships of all? Not sure about the answer? No problem, here we are, revealing a list of 30 most powerful Star Trek ship names today.

From TOS to Picard, we’ve covered and presented some of the powerful Star Trek ships . Their rankings are based on specifications, including speed, size, and power. So, are you ready and excited to know their names? Let’s begin!

See awesome great details in this book Ships of the Line on amazon.

List of Powerful Star Trek Ship Names Revealed

30. ss botany bay.

Built in the late 20 th century by the United States of America, this DY-100-class sleeper ship played a great role in helping Khan Noonien Singh and his group to escape Earth after being defeated at Eugenics Wars . You can explore the nuclear power of this ship and know more about it by watching the prime timeline of Star Trek – TOS.

29. Phoenix

Phoenix, an Earth spaceship, was constructed during the mid-21 st century. The interesting fact about this ship is that it used to be a nuclear missile. Yes, Lily Sloane and Zefram Cochrane later converted this missile into a prototype spaceship. Isn’t it amazing? That’s not it; it is also known to be the first human-made spacecraft launched from Earth to travel faster than the speed of light by using warp-drive technology.

28. Friendship 1

You will come across this Star Trek ship name in a Star Trek: Voyager episode. Launched in 2067 by the United Earth Space Probe Agency, four years after the Phoenix’s game-changing flight, this deep space probe came to find other species. The Friendship 1 ship’s exquisite feature is that it contained a lot of scientific, technological, and cultural information that helped to seek out new worlds and new civilizations.

27. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-J)

You can get a glimpse of this starship in the “Azati Prime” – The Star Trek: Enterprise episode. It bags one of the top spots in the list as it boasts some of the advanced technologies. However, it is not that popular due to two reasons – one, it just has a brief glimpse, and second, a time-traveling Captain said that the Enterprise-J exists in a possible future timeline.

26. Galileo (NCC-1701-7)

Assigned to the USS Enterprise in the 2260s, Galileo was a Class F shuttlecraft and bore the name of the great astronomer and mathematician of all time. They first used a telescope – Galileo Galilei. However, this craft was lost near Taurus II in 2267, at the time of the Murasaki Effect investigation. It was then replaced with the same numbered craft that was dubbed as the ‘Galileo II.’

25. USS Raven (NAR-32450)

This Federation exploration vessel was the home and the workplace of Magnus and Erin Hansen, the Borg-studying scientists. Check out its remains in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, “The Raven.”

24. Deep Space Nine

While this isn’t technically a ship, its a space station, we though it was important to include. There are two sides to this. On one side, it is simply an old Cardassian mining station for the same-titled TV series. While on the other hand, the same mining station is modified and reconstructed into a battle station with 5,000 photon torpedoes in Deep Space Nine – Season 4 of Star Trek.

23. USS Defiant (NX-74205)

Built for Borg battles, this amazing Federation craft was armed with a cloaking device that was lent from the Romulan Star Empire. It is known to be one of the successful warships that you can see for yourself in Star Trek: Deep Space Nin e as well as Star Trek: First Contact . Also know for it’s “mining” capabilities in games.

22. La Sirena

Memory Alpha states that this newcomer Star Trek ship is a Kaplan F17 Speed Freighter, a class of civilian ships equipped with phasers and shields but a whole lot of hologram capacities. Not to forget, it is the only entry from Star Trek: Picard.

21. USS Franklin (NX-326)

This ship is small, but at the same time, tough, just like other Freedom-class starships. You can see this 22 nd -century ship in the Kelvin timeline of Star Trek: Beyond, seat belts. It is equipped with stealth technology, cannons, and torpedoes, and its warp four power was used to get to the Starbase Yorktown from the planet, Altamid .

20. Enterprise (NX-01)

In the 22nd century of Star Trek: Enterprise , you can see how this starship has the potential to carry a huge crew of almost 100 people. It is remembered as a victory of Zefram Cochrane’s theories of space travel.

19. Sh’Raan

Even though the Vulcans are known better than combat ships for logic, the pre-Federation years have seen Spock’s forerunners ready to throw down in Sh’Raan – the Star Trek: Enterprise -era starship that was capable of Warp 7 power.

18. USS Shenzhou (NCC-1227)

This Walker-class Federation USS starship was introduced in the 23 rd century, and you can see it in Star Trek: Discovery. It had everything, including phasers, cannons, and torpedoes, but unfortunately, it got smashed in the Battle of the Binary Stars that occurred in 2256.

17. Sarcophagus

Bigger than the Shenzhou, Klingon starship of the 23rd-century can be witnessed in the Star Trek: Discovery pilot. One interesting feature of the Sarcophagus is that its armor contains the remains of Klingon warriors in the form of a patchwork of caskets.

16. Jem’Hadar Warship

Simply put, it’s all interconnected when we talk about this warship. The story of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is incomplete without the Dominion, and the story of Dominion is incomplete without the Jem’Hadar warship, i.e., its military division.

15. USS Prometheus (NCC-71201)

This Nebula-class Federation USS starship is in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . It was introduced as a floating science trial. It not only gets the job done but is also famous for its magnificent goal of reigniting a dead sun.

14. USS Excelsior (NX-2000)

It is featured in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as the first Federation starship having trans-warp drive. This 23rd-century ship was operated by Starfleet and served Captain Hikaru Sulu , who commanded the Excelsior from 2290 to at least 2320.

13. D7-class Battle Cruiser

This Klingon starship is considered the largest of its era as it was 748 feet long and had 430 crew members. Although many other cooler introductions came along in the 24 th century, this starship still holds a higher rank. It is also termed as ‘ the pinnacle of combat warships in the 23rd century ’ as per StarTrek.com.

12. Scimitar

This Reman-made ship boasts about a lot of things. Featuring in Star Trek: Nemesis , it is loaded with photon-torpedo bays and disruptor banks. Additionally, Scimitar can convert itself into a Thalaron weapon. It is similar to a nuclear weapon but has far more destructive attributes than the latter.

11. Vor’Cha-class Attack Cruiser

This was yet another heavily armed Klingon starship used during the middle and later part of the 24 th century. It was almost as long as a Galaxy-class Federation craft and was similarly used as the backbone of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance fleet in the mirror universe.

10. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)

Have you seen the original iconic Enterprise? USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) is a Constitution-class starship that is essentially a replica of it. It was first featured in the prime timeline of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Additionally, it also appears in the Kelvin timeline of the J.J. Abrams-era Star Trek films.

9. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)

USS Enterprise-B is a polished version of the prime timeline’s Constitution-class Enterprise. This Excelsior-class Federation starship was introduced in the 23rd century and can be seen in Star Trek Generations .

8. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Prime Timeline

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a 23rd century Federation Constitution-class starship launched in 2258. Officially Federation was a flagship, this starship was operated by Starfleet. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the planet Altamid battle in 2263.

7. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Kelvin Timeline

This starship was introduced in the 23rd century, so it has the potential of more than warp 8. In fact, it became the first Federation starship to start a five-year mission under the command of Captain James T. Kirk . It is said to be more than double the size of the Prime Timeline’s Enterprise.

6. Romulan Warbird

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew were awestruck by this Romulan Warbird for obvious reasons in Star Trek: The Next Generation . According to StarTrek.com, it is considered to be the largest and the most powerful Romulan spacecraft.

5. Negh’Var Warship

Negh’Var Warship was the largest class of starship, running more than 2,250 massive feet long. This powerful starship was operated as the emperor’s flagship in the Klingon Empire during the late 24 th century.

4. USS Vengeance

Designed and developed by Khan Noonien Singh and Section 31, Star Trek: Into Darkness reveals how scary this 23rd-century starship is. From Star Trek’s Kelvin timeline, this ship was specifically created for combat and was commissioned in 2259. It has very assassin type feel.

3. The Whale Probe

You cannot stop boasting about the exquisite features of this starship – the Whale Probe. Featured in the Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , defeating it is out of the question as it is a massive, power-sucking, starship-disabling, and ocean-vaporizing craft that visited Earth in 2286 to contact members of the humpback whale species.

2. Xindi Probe

We can define this starship as a pure beam of destructive force. Seen in Star Trek: Enterprise, this Xindi Probe not only attacked Earth in the 22nd century but also successfully killed more than 7 million people from Florida to Venezuela leaving complete destruction in it’s wake.

Nomad starship was designed by Dr. Jackson Roykirk and served in the first part of the 21st century. It was created with two goals: to create a ship that could function as an accurate thinking machine while using logic and find new lifeforms in interstellar space. This powerful starship had the potential to clear out at least 4 billion people from four different planets. You can see how Captain Kirk and his team face it in the Star Trek TOS episode, The Changeling.

Wrapping It Up

See awesome great details in this book Ships of the Line on amazon . There are more powerful Star Trek ships in addition to this list. The Doomsday Machine, the Krenim Temporal Weapon Ship , the Species 8472 bioship , the Narada , the Borg Cube , and V’Ger are undoubtedly powerful Star Trek ships featured in different timelines. The high-tech development and their powerful specifications have made them the most powerful ships of the Star Trek era.

Star Trek Ship Names Ordered by Class From TOS to Picard generated pin 56653

Brad Burnie is the founder of Starships.com. He loves all video game genres. In his spare time, he loves reading, watching movies, and gaming

List of canon starships

VisualEditor
View history

The U.S.S. Voyager , a canon starship featured heavily in-game

This article gives an overview over numerous starships from Star Trek canon which have appeared in Star Trek Online over the years.

1.1 Star Trek: The Original Series
1.2 Star Trek: The Next Generation
1.3 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1.4 Star Trek: Voyager
1.5 Star Trek: Enterprise
1.6 Star Trek: Discovery
1.7 Star Trek: Lower Decks
1.8.1 Star Trek: Picard
1.8.2 USS Zheng He - NCC 86505
1.8.3 USS Nathan Hale- NCC 86501
1.8.4 USS Excelsior II - NCC 42037
1.8.5 USS Stargazer - NCC 82893
2.1 Kal Dano's Timeship
2.2 U.S.S. Al-Batani
2.3 U.S.S. Challenger
2.4 U.S.S. Defiant (Constitution class)
2.5 U.S.S. Defiant
2.6 U.S.S. Enterprise
2.7 U.S.S. Enterprise -C
2.8 U.S.S. Enterprise -D
2.9 U.S.S. Enterprise -E
2.10 U.S.S. Galaxy
2.11 U.S.S. Lakota
2.12 U.S.S. Malinche
2.13 U.S.S. Musashi
2.14 U.S.S. Pasteur
2.15 U.S.S. Rhode Island
2.16 U.S.S. T'Kumbra
2.17 U.S.S. Voyager
2.18 U.S.S. Yangtzee Kiang
2.19 U.S.S. Yorktown
3.1 I.K.S. Rotarran
3.2 Klingon Sarcophagus

Overview [ | ]

Star trek: the original series [ | ].

U.S.S. Constellation
U.S.S. Defiant ( Constitution class)
U.S.S. Enterprise
U.S.S. Exeter
U.S.S. Hood
U.S.S. Lexington
U.S.S. Potemkin
U.S.S. Yorktown

Star Trek: The Next Generation [ | ]

U.S.S. Ahwahnee
U.S.S. Enterprise -C
U.S.S. Enterprise -D
U.S.S. Pasteur

Star Trek: Voyager [ | ]

U.S.S. Al-Batani
U.S.S. Challenger
U.S.S. Rhode Island
U.S.S. Voyager

Star Trek: Enterprise [ | ]

Enterprise (NX-01)
Kal Dano's Timeship
U.S.S. Enterprise -J

Star Trek: Lower Decks [ | ]

U.S.S. Cerritos

Star Trek films [ | ]

U.S.S. Enterprise (Kelvin Timeline) ( Star Trek (2009) )
U.S.S. Enterprise -D ( Star Trek Generations )
U.S.S. Enterprise -E ( Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection , Star Trek Nemesis )

Star Trek: Picard [ | ]

Several starships spawn with the name and registry of their class protoype (i.e. the U.S.S. Centaur , U.S.S. Galaxy , or U.S.S. Intrepid ). Since these ships can be destroyed whenever they are encountered, it is unlikely that they are meant to represent the actual vessels of the same name. As such, only appearances outside random encounters are listed on this page.

Federation starship classes

View history

The following is a list of starship classes operated by the Federation .

Background information

Because of the strong connotations with the real world United States Navy, Star Trek: The Original Series Producers Gene Roddenberry and Robert H. Justman (a World War II navy veteran himself) had imbued Starfleet with ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 112, et al. ; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed, pp. 28-29; see also in this respect: Aircraft carrier ), it came hardly as a surprise that the US Navy ship class naming convention was also followed for the vessels of Starfleet. This convention has it that a class is named after the first, or lead, vessel authorized by US Congress, which is not necessarily the one first laid down, launched, completed or commissioned (formally taken into service), and after which the British Royal Navy for example name their ship classes. While not canon , it can serve as a potential real-world rationale why there are Constitution -class vessels with lower registry numbers than the lead vessel USS Constitution . Nonetheless, in his influential " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " article, then fan and future Star Trek alumnus, Greg Jein , had postulated an alternative theory for the discrepancy, albeit equally non-canon.

Additionally, while it is highly unlikely that all alien races follow the same naming convention as Starfleet does – even on present-day real-world Earth, the US Navy convention is far from being universal – there is a real-world counterpart for this as well. The defense organization NATO uses a variant of the US/British class naming convention for ship types of their adversaries, particularly those of the former Soviet Union, who themselves classified their vessels according to project number, such as – where a Star Trek related example is concerned – their Project 705 / Alfa -class submarines .

Earth starship classes
Unnamed Federation starships

External links

Star Trek Ships: Expanded - UFP: Starfleet and Prehistory at The STArchive
Ship class at Wikipedia

The Original Series
The Animated Series
The Next Generation
Deep Space Nine
Strange New Worlds
Lower Decks
Star Trek Movies
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SpaceX Starship's next launch 'probably 3 to 5 weeks' away, Elon Musk says

"Objective is for the ship to get past max heating, or at least further than last time."

ground-up view of a huge silver rocket booster being rolled out of an assembly building toward the launch pad

We're likely still a month or so away from the next launch of SpaceX's Starship megarocket.

That was the timeline Elon Musk offered in a post on X over the weekend, saying Starship's next test flight is "probably 3 to 5 weeks" away. "Objective is for the ship to get past max heating, or at least further than last time," the billionaire entrepreneur added.

The 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. It consists of two elements, both of which are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable: a huge first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 m) upper stage known as Starship, or simply "Ship."

Related: Relive SpaceX Starship's 3rd flight test in breathtaking photos

view of three rockets in an assembly building

A fully stacked Starship has flown three times to date, on each occasion from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas — in April 2023, November 2023 and March 14 of this year . The giant vehicle has performed better with each successive flight.

During the debut liftoff, for example, Starship's two stages failed to separate as planned, and SpaceX detonated the tumbling vehicle just four minutes after liftoff. Flight 2 achieved stage separation , but both Super Heavy and Ship broke apart early, ending the mission after eight minutes.

On Flight 3, Super Heavy successfully steered its way into position for a planned Gulf of Mexico splashdown but broke apart about 1,650 feet (500 m) above the waves. Ship reached orbital velocity and flew for nearly 50 minutes, though it ultimately succumbed to the violent forces of frictional heating when reentering Earth's atmosphere .

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As he noted in his X post, Musk wants Ship to do even better on the upcoming Flight 4.

— SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket into space on epic 3rd test flight (video)

— Starship and Super Heavy: SpaceX's Mars transportation system

— FAA to oversee investigation of SpaceX Starship's 3rd test flight

SpaceX has been gearing up for Flight 4 for a while now. The company has already conducted static fire tests for both the Super Heavy and the Ship assigned to the mission, briefly igniting their Raptor engines while the vehicles remained anchored to the pad at Starbase. SpaceX also recently rolled Flight 4's Super Heavy back to the pad, presumably for more testing, a move the company chronicled in a post on X on Saturday (May 11).

However, there may still be logistical hurdles to clear; SpaceX is seeking a license modification for its next launch from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is overseeing an investigation into what happened on the March 14 flight.

Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that SpaceX is seeking a launch license from the FAA for the next Starship liftoff. SpaceX already has a launch license; it is seeking a modification of that license. The story was corrected at 11:15 a.m. ET on May 14 to make this clear.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

How to watch Blue Origin's NS-25 private space tourist mission online May 19

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites on record 21st flight (video)

NASA's PREFIRE mission is ready to unlock the mysteries of Earth's poles

Rob77 Admit a little disappointed at the delay, I'm sure month ago they were eyeing early May? But I guess its to be expected. It looked like they were getting another ready, maybe they might try 2 test runs consecutively? Reply
danR Translation: 6 to 10 weeks. From the days of Starhopper I'd been anticipating a gradual shift from linear cadence progress to exponential. That has been happening, but the exponent isn't very great, and isn't getting greater at any rate commensurate with getting manned missions to the Moon in under 4 years, or to Mars before 2035. Reply
Classical Motion Putting a man on Mars is no problem. Getting him back is. You will have to send and build an oasis before you can send a man. And you will need gravity and shielding for the trip. 2035-------maybe cockroaches. A man would only demonstrate ego over reason. Hollywood over reality. PR taken too far. What is the true value in going? Who benefits from the cost, time and resources? There is nothing new there. Send probes to our outer edge, out beyond Pluto and farther for newness. Analyze the corrosion of our system. We have recently found debris fields for all the planets. Perhaps our system leaves such. Reply
Classical Motion We might even excrete system debris in a pattern. Breadcrumbs. Reply
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Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery’s 4 starfleet ships saving federation hq identified & they’re not enterprise or voyager.

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Star trek: discovery revealed season 5’s true villain (& it's not the breen), star trek: discovery just made burnham into homer simpson.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 7, "Erigah"

Four Starfleet ships defended Federation HQ in "Erigah" on Star Trek: Discovery, but the USS Voyager-J and the 32nd century USS Enterprise were absent.
Breen arrived for a blood bounty and President T'Rina negotiated with Primarch Ruhn in a tense face-off.
The identified Starfleet ships backing up Federation HQ in "Erigah" were USS Excalibur-M, USS Credence, USS LaMar, and USS Locherer.

The four Starfleet ships that arrived to defend Federation HQ in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah," have been identified, and the USS Voyager-J and 32nd century USS Enterprise weren't among them. Written by M. Raven Metzner and directed by Jon Dudkowski, "Erigah" brought the Breen to the United Federation of Planets' doorstep to collect the Eriagh (Breen blood bounty) on L'ak (Elias Toufexis) and Moll (Eve Harlow). President T'Rina (Tara Rosling) led the Federation's tense negotiations with the Breen's Primarch Ruhn (Tony Nappo), and four starships warped in to join the USS Discovery in facing the Breen's massive Dreadnought.

On X, Jörg Hillebrand (@gaghyogi49), who was a renowned researcher on Star Trek: Picard season 3, identified the first two Starfleet ships to back up Federation HQ in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah ", as the USS Excalibur-M and the USS Credence. Check out Hillebrand's posts below:

The final two Starfleet ships warping to the rescue in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7 are the USS LaMar and the USS Locherer , according to Memory Alpha . The Locherer was the starship that captured Moll and L'ak at the start of "Erigah."

As Burnham seeks the universe's greatest treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, she'll need help from a host of new and returning characters.

Where Are USS Voyager-J & USS Enterprise In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5?

Other starships are helping the uss discovery.

The USS Voyager-J and a future version of the USS Enterprise are confirmed to be in service in Star Trek: Discovery 's 32nd century, but neither have been seen in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Voyager-J was shown in Star Trek: Discovery season 3 , and Lt. Commander Nillson (Sara Mitich) transferred to Voyager-J from the USS Discovery before Star Trek: Discovery season 5 began. Voyager-J was also outfitted with a prototype Pathway Drive, Starfleet's new warp system meant to replace the USS Discovery's spore drive .

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 introduced the USS Antares.

Star Trek: Discovery has yet to show the 32nd-century USS Enterprise or determine what generation the legendary starship has reached. The Enterprise was mentioned in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, joining the USS Voyager-J to scan a subspace rift left behind by the Dark Matter Anomaly. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 introduced the USS Antares, the starship formerly commanded by Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie). Since Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is its final season, it's unknown whether the USS Enterprise or USS Voyager-J will be seen before the series ends.

Source: X, Memory Alpha

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+

US$800,000 lost model of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, found in a storage locker, sails into the unknown with lawsuit

A model of the USS Enterprise, prototype for the version used in the opening credits of TV series Star Trek and believed lost for 45 years, turned up in 2023
The men who found the US$800,000 model were persuaded not to auction it but to sell it for less to the son of the series' creator. Now they're suing for fraud

In April, Heritage Auctions heralded the discovery of the original model of the USS Enterprise, the starship that whooshed through the stars in the opening credits of the 1960s television series Star Trek but had mysteriously disappeared around 45 years ago.

The auction house, known for its dazzling sales of movie and television props and memorabilia, announced that it was returning the 33-inch (84-centimetre) model to Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jnr, son of series creator Gene Roddenberry .

The model was kept at Heritage's office, in Los Angeles in the US state of California, for "safekeeping", the house proclaimed in a statement, shortly after an individual discovered it and brought it to Heritage for authentication.

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"After a long journey, she's home," Roddenberry's son posted on X - the platform formerly known as Twitter .

But the journey has been far from smooth. The starship model and its celebrated return are now the subject of a lawsuit alleging fraud, negligence and deceptive trade practice, highlighting the enduring value of memorabilia from the sci-fi television series.

The case was brought by Dustin Riach and Jason Rivas, long-time friends and self-described storage unit entrepreneurs who discovered the model among a stash of items they bought "sight unseen" from a lien sale at a storage locker in Los Angeles in October 2023.

A lien is a legal claim on property held as debt collateral. Failure to pay the debt back means the lender or creditor has the right to seize or sell the property.

"It's an unfortunate misunderstanding. We have a seller on one side and a buyer on the other side and Heritage is in the middle, and we are aligning the parties on both sides to get the transaction complete," says Armen Vartian, a lawyer representing the auction house, adding that the allegations against his client were "unfounded".

The pair claimed that once the model was authenticated and given a value of US$800,000, they agreed to consign it to an auction sale with Heritage planned for July 2024, according to the lawsuit.

However, following their agreement, they allege the auction house falsely questioned their title to the model and then convinced them, instead of taking it to auction, to sell it for a lowball US$500,000 to Roddenberry Entertainment.

According to the suit, Eugene Roddenberry, the company's CEO, had shown great interest in the model and could potentially provide a pipeline of memorabilia to the auction house in the future.

"They think we have a disagreement with Roddenberry," says Dale Washington, Riach and Rivas' lawyer. "We don't. We think they violated property law in the discharge of their fiduciary duties."

The two men allege they have yet to receive the US$500,000 payment.

For years, Riach and Rivas have made a living buying repossessed storage lockers and selling the contents online, at auction and at flea markets. In fact, Riach has appeared on the reality television series Storage Wars .

"It's a roll of dice in the dark," Riach says of his profession bidding on storage lockers. "Sometimes you are buying a picture of a unit. When a unit goes to lien, what you see is what you get and the rest is a surprise. At a live auction, you can shine a flashlight, smell and look inside to get a gauge. But online is a gamble, it's only as good as the photo."

Last autumn, Riach says he saw a picture of a large locker in an online sale. It was 10 feet by 30 feet (three metres by nine metres), and "I saw boxes hiding in the back, it was dirty, dusty, there were cobwebs and what looked like a bunch of broken furniture," he says.

Something about it, he says "looked interesting", and he called Rivas and told him they should bid on it. Riach declined to say how much they paid.

There were tins of old photographs and negatives of nitrate film reels from the 1800s and 1900s. When Rivas unwrapped a rubbish bag that was sitting on top of furniture, he pulled out a model of a spaceship. The business card of its maker, Richard C. Datin, was affixed to the bottom of the base.

A Google search turned up that Datin had made Star Trek models, although the two men did not make the connection to the television series.

"We buy lots of units and see models all of the time," Riach says. He thought they would find a buyer and decided to list it on eBay with a starting price of US$1,000.

At once, they were deluged with inquiries. Among Trekkies, the long-lost first starship model had attained a mythical status.

The original Star Trek debuted in 1966 and aired for three seasons. Although its original run was brief, the show has generated numerous films and television spin-offs and is one of the most lucrative entertainment franchises, with an enormous fan base.

In 2022, at a Heritage auction of 75 props and items, a Starfleet Communicator from the 1990s series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sold for US$27,500 while a pair of Spock's prosthetic Vulcan ear tips from the original series went for US$11,875, more than twice the amount they brought when they were sold in 2017 for US$5,100.

The starship's design was crucial to the series' success. "If you didn't believe you were in a vehicle travelling through space, a vehicle that made sense, whose layout and design made sense, then you wouldn't believe in the series," Gene Roddenberry said in the 1968 book The Making of Star Trek , according to the auction house.

For years, the show's creator had kept the 33-inch model on his desk. It became the prototype for the 11-foot model used in subsequent episodes. That version was later donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington in the US. But that first model disappeared around 1978 when the makers of Star Trek: The Motion Picture borrowed it.

In 1979, Roddenberry wrote to then Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg stating that he had "loaned" the model to the studio more than a year earlier.

"My problem is simply that of getting my model back," Roddenberry wrote, according to a copy provided by Washington. "It is a fairly expensive piece of model making but its real value to me is what it represents." He added that no one he had spoken with "had the slightest hint as to who got it or what happened to it".

Roddenberry died in 1991.

After the massive interest sparked by the eBay listing, Riach and Rivas pulled the sale and began researching the model more intently. They discovered the connection between Datin and the television series but also learned that the original model was the same size as the one they had found and it had gone missing.

"I said wow, do we have something here?" says Riach, and then reached out to Heritage.

Riach admits that Star Trek was not really on his radar. He was a diehard Star Wars fan, having collected vintage memorabilia from the space films since he was eight years old.

But given the treasure he unearthed, he now says, "I love Star Trek ."

"There are people buying storage units for 20 years and you will never find anything this great," he says. "It's like buying a lottery ticket. It was a very great find."

Things took an unexpected twist, Riach says. In March, he and Rivas signed an agreement to sell the model for US$500,000 after it was pulled from the planned auction and they were told Roddenberry Entertainment had a "strong claim" to the model's title and "would tie them up with its 'powerful legal team'."

But then they were given a new transfer agreement to sign with a new set of terms. Riach declined and, instead, he and Rivas called Washington.

Heritage "moved the goalposts", according to their lawyer. Under the new agreement, Riach and Rivas would be paid a "finder's fee", which Washington called a "reward", converting it from a transactional payment to a potentially voluntary payment.

They said that by April, when Heritage announced the model had resurfaced, they came to believe the house failed to disclose the item's value was much greater than they had been told.

Joe Maddalena, Heritage's executive vice-president, made public statements calling it "priceless".

"It could sell for any amount and I wouldn't be surprised because of what it is," he says. "It is truly a cultural icon."

They also had not been paid.

On April 28, 10 days after Heritage announced it had returned the model to Roddenberry, Riach and Rivas' lawyer sent a letter to the auction house's lawyer outlining their claims and asking for the payment promised; they also proposed mediation.

Vartian, the lawyer representing Heritage, said that Riach and Rivas became "impatient" about getting the transaction done, and disputes the house had a fiduciary duty to them.

"This is an arm's-length business relationship," Vartian says. "They bring something to the auction house and are trying to get the most possible amount as quickly as possible, that is [Heritage's] position and what they did."

Still, Vartian is confident that they will soon conclude the transaction, saying: "Various things including scheduling have taken longer than [they should]."

For his part, Riach says this experience is much like that of the crew of the USS Enterprise - "a strange new world".

"I've never experienced anything like this. I've sold fine art at auction and other places, I got my cheque and went on. I've never had this roller coaster."

"Storage is a hard game. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose," he adds. "We've bought a US$10,000 unit and everything was complete garbage. But if you play long enough, you can get lucky."

WARP FIVE: Elias Toufexis Gives Face to the Breen and L'ak's Unfortunate Gamble

The Discovery actor talks making Star Trek history, denouncing his role as the Scion in pursuit of love and freedom, and more.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for the fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Graphic illustration featuring Elias Toufexis and episodic stills of his character L'ak in Star Trek: Discovery

Getty Images / StarTrek.com

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

As we near the conclusion of Star Trek: Discovery 's fifth and final season, the U.S.S. Discovery 's lead chasing their Red Directive mission across the galaxy faces its biggest hurdle yet following the events of " Erigah ."

While in the custody of Federation, Moll and L'ak make a desperate gamble to escape their current predicament resulting in devastating consequences. While in his biobed, L'ak self-administers a massive dosage of tricordrazine in order to distract the guards and get them to lower the containment shields so Moll can flee. While his partner and wife manages to take out the guards and seek for a getaway transport for the pair, L'ak's already precarious state takes a turn for the worse. Unfortunately for Moll and Discovery , the Breen Scion is now gone and they've attracted the ire of the Breen Primarch Ruhn who has now lost his key to ascending the Imperium as emperor.

Ahead of the release of "Erigah," StarTrek.com had the opportunity to further explore Star Trek: Discovery actor Elias Toufexis about his love of the franchise, making Star Trek history by revealing the true face of the Breen, his approach to his character L'ak, the extent of the Scion's love for Moll, and more.

Point of First Contact

"Red Directive"

StarTrek.com

Like many others, Elias Toufexis first encountered Star Trek in his childhood. "I’ve literally grown up with Star Trek ,” he explains, “I mean that in a different way than it comes across. When I was a kid, I obviously was too young to have watched The Original Series [when it first aired], but it was on all the time. My dad recorded it, and I remember watching it with my dad and his brothers — my uncles — all the time."

"Then we would have these marathons," Toufexis continues. "I don’t remember what channel it was, but they would air full days of Star Trek episodes, like top 10 Star Trek episodes. It always ended with ' The City on the Edge of Forever .' ' The Trouble with Tribbles ’ was also in the mix. I just memorized those shows, particularly the top five Star Trek episodes. Then, when I was a young teenager, I got into The Next Generation , and it grew with me. When I was about 19, Deep Space Nine came along. That was a much more mature show and I was getting more mature, so I grew with that."

"When I started college, Star Trek took a little bit of a backseat compared to when I was growing up," notes Toufexis. "But I still watched Voyager , I still watched Enterprise , and the movies. Star Trek II is part of my DNA. There’s not a frame of that movie I don’t know by heart."

Toufexis then shares another reason why Star Trek was such a huge part of his upbringing. "Another big part of me loving Star Trek was William Shatner. We grew up not only in the same town in Montreal, but we grew up on the same block. Exactly the same block. Obviously, 30 years apart. We grew up on the same street in Monkland. I was on the corner street he was on. I always looked at him as a role model because this guy literally grew up right here and is one of the biggest stars in the world. I always looked up to him because of that, which got mixed in with my adoration for Star Trek . So I’ve been a fan my whole life."

The Breen Scion

[ RELATED : WARP FIVE: Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis on Star Trek’s Unrelenting Star-Crossed Lovers ]

Unlike Toufexis, his character L'ak had a more difficult upbringing as the Scion of the Breen Imperium . In " Mirrors ," we saw as the direct descendent of the emperor, he turned his back on the Imperium in the name of love to be with Moll, marking them both with a Breen erigah — a blood bounty. Then, in the latest episode, "Erigah," as the Imperium faces discord between warring factions in a bid for the throne, it's revealed that Primarch Ruhn (L'ak's uncle) needs him back in order to make claim of the entire Imperium.

In the flashback in "Mirrors," Moll questions why L'ak spares Ruhn, he reveals that his uncle was who raised him. Toufexis shares his approach on focusing on the familial aspect of the Breen defector, "I kept it mostly personal. I thought about, 'Okay, my uncle means a lot to me, but he's forcing me into this life I don't want.'"

"The face that L'ak chooses is almost like a screw you to his uncle and his heritage," explains Toufexis. "He's, 'I don't want to do this; this is me.' When Moll asks to see his other face, he tells her, 'It's not me. That's not what I am.' I kept it very personal, the history of it all. I discussed it with Michelle [Paradise] and Tunde [Osunsanmi]. For me, I focused on the personal relationship with L'ak's uncle, what I wanted to achieve by getting out of [the Breen Imperium], what Moll means to me, and what her asking me to go with her means to me. That's what I played. There was a little bit of hierarchy, which is shown in ['Erigah'] when L'ak talks about not wanting to be this; it's worse than death, being this slave to the Imperium."

"Not only was Moll an out for him," continues Toufexis, "but he fell in love with her, a new chance at life. In Episode 5, the idea of going with her does not even occur to him until she says it. When he gets into the muck with shooting his fellow Breen, he decides to chance it and go with her."

Giving Face to the Breen

"Mirrors"

[ RELATED : Who Are the Breen? ]

The Breen Imperium remains a mysterious yet powerful presence in the Alpha Quadrant and Star Trek lore. With Toufexis' arrival, the Discovery actor not only pulls back the curtain (and helmet) and gives face metaphorically and literally to an indomitable species.

On the opportunities this role presented, following his brief stint as a human convict in the first season, Toufexis proclaims, "When I was offered the role, I was very excited to take it. I would have taken it anyway, no matter what. I thought it was maybe a couple episodes, which I didn't care; I just wanted to be on the show again. I love the show. I love Sonequa [Martin-Green]. I love Doug [Jones]. I've known them for a while, and I just wanted to be on the show. Then when they showed me concept art, and they told me it was Breen, my brain went from, 'I'm really happy to be on the show,' to 'Oh my gosh, now I'm making Star Trek history.'"

"Suddenly, I'm going to be in the technical manuals and the things I collect," continues Toufexis. "I'm going to be in magazines about this stuff. It really blew my mind and got me especially excited, even more than I already was. Being the first [unmasked] Breen historically is amazing and incredible. It's a great feeling, but also as a fan, especially of Deep Space Nine , this is so cool. We get to update the species and what they do. Everyone's been saying the two faces of the Breen, but for me, it's the three faces of the Breen — the one with the helmet, the gelatinous version, and the one L'ak chooses to be, which is inherent to his character, a really big, important choice he makes for himself. The layers of complexity of L'ak because of him being Breen was so enjoyable to play."

Giving Voice to the Non-Federation

"Face the Strange"

For Star Trek , the stories predominantly center on the Federation and the members who uphold its values. However, to show the strengths as well as its limitations is to juxtapose their actions is to highlight those who exist outside of the Federation, who don't understand or resist their tenets, or who actively demonstrates themselves as a foil.

Toufexis enjoyed the entire experience, giving a rich and nuanced look to L'ak and Moll's journey alongside co-star Eve Harlow. Their star-crossed lovers sought to outrun the Federation just as much as their erigah .

"Seeing something outside of Discovery and outside of a species like the Breen, it was my favorite part," Toufexis reflects. "It's its own little story, these people. I play a lot of bad guys. For the most part, their backstory is written for you, and you maybe talk a little about it. But it was different [with L'ak and Discovery ]. We got to feel it and show it often. I don't like calling Moll and L'ak 'bad guys.' They’re antagonists for sure, but they're not really bad guys."

"When I saw Episode 5, it had taken us a long time to see it, but Michelle [Paradise] had told me about it," recalls Toufexis. "We were going to go back and talk about their love story, and we get to see them falling in love. That was the best part because I thought, 'This is new.' I don't think there are villains in Star Trek , maybe one-offs in little episodes here or there, but villains don't get to show the reason they're doing this. Because they want love and freedom. If we did our jobs correctly, you want to root for them. You don't want to root for them to kill Burnham or anything, but you want to root for them to get away [from the Federation and Breen Imperium] and be free. That was important to me. The best part about the whole thing was the love story for me and trying to get that across, make people empathize with the characters, was the most important thing."

The Cost of L'ak's Gamble

"Erigah"

In the care of Dr. Hugh Culber aboard the Discovery , but still in custody of the Federation, as the Breen Imperium closing in on them, the severely injured L'ak makes a bad call in order to give Moll an opportunity to escape.

Explaining how he viewed the events of L'ak's actions in Sickbay in "Erigah," Toufexis states, "That’s what it was — a gamble. I didn't play it as a straight up sacrifice. He didn't know that he was going to die. Just that he knew he could die because he was taking a big chance. Moll's safety and freedom is more important to him than anything else. Of course, he wanted to get out of there [with her]. He even says, 'I'm sorry I took too much. I didn’t mean to do it.' He apologizes because he didn't mean to do it. He knew the odds weren't great, which he hints at when he says, 'You’re not going to like it,' about his plan. They didn’t have a lot of options."

"In retrospect, after watching the episode, I wish I could have played up seeing that she's still there after all this," Toufexis reveals. "That he just wanted to get her out of there, but now that he's dying, recognize that she came back and was there with him. He trusts her; they're married. Even if the plan didn't work out, she could do whatever it takes for their freedom, or her freedom at least. That's why he says, 'You'll be okay.'"

At the end of "Erigah," Moll reveals their married status to Breen Primarch Ruhn in another gambit to escape both the Federation and the erigah 's clutches, and potentially resurrect her late lover. Despite not being privy to Moll's plans, Toufexis ponders how things could have played out if L'ak would have survived, "If he was still alive, he obviously would say, 'No, no, no, we’re not doing this.' But given the situation, he would understand why she was doing this. She has to get away from the Federation."

"While we built Moll and L'ak as maybe they're not so bad, maybe they could join up with the Federation," Toufexis muses. "And the first thing Moll does when L'ak dies is stab the Federation in the back and throw them under the bus [with the Breen Imperium]. He does trust her."

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Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Behind The Scenes

Graphic illustration of Mary Wiseman and episodic stills of Sylvia Tilly in Star Trek: Discovery

IMAGES

Every "Star Trek" USS Enterprise, Ranked
The Evolution of Starship Enterprise, the Coolest Deep-Space Explorer
Ships of star trek
LE CONTAINER
Iconic Star Trek Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A and Excelsior NX-2000
Original Star Trek Starship Enterprise TV Show Model Restored At SNASM

VIDEO

The Defiant (Constitution Class)
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The unexpected figure behind the creation of Star Trek
WMS
Astonished
The Strange History of The Norway Class Starship

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USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. It is the main setting of the original Star Trek television series (1966-69), and it is depicted in films, other television series, spin-off fiction, products, and fan-created media.Under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, the Enterprise carries its crew on a mission "to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new ...
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a 23rd century Federation Constitution-class starship operated by Starfleet, and the first Federation starship to bear the name Enterprise. During its career, the Enterprise served as the Federation flagship and was in service from 2245 to 2285. During the latter years of its life, the Enterprise was refitted into a Constitution II-class starship and served as ...
Star Trek's Original Name For The Enterprise Explained
The USS Enterprise is the iconic Star Trek starship, but Gene Roddenberry originally intended to call it by another name. Launched in 2245, the USS Enterprise became the flagship of the Federation. Originally captained by Robert April, and subsequently by Christopher Pike and then James T. Kirk himself, the Enterprise remained central to the ...
Star Trek's USS Enterprise
The USS Enterprise is undoubtedly the best Star Trek starship to ever grace our screens. And the beauty of it is whether you're still in love with Kirk's original ship, or if you have a soft spot for Picard's Enterprise-D, the USS Enterprise's long history has something for everyone. We're now on to the Enterprise-G, introduced in the ...
Starship Enterprise
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 ...
Star Trek: Every Version Of The Starship Enterprise
Excluding the real-life space shuttle launched by NASA in 1977, the oldest known example of a space-faring ship to bear the Enterprise name was briefly hinted at during Star Trek: Enterprise.Seen in Star Trek: Enterprise season 2, episode 24, "First Flight," a painting of the USS Enterprise XCV 330 revealed it to be a probe-like vessel with a long tube body that was surrounded by massive ...
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), or Enterprise-D, to distinguish it from other vessels with the same name, is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, it is the main setting of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and the film Star Trek Generations (1994). It has also been depicted in various spinoffs, films, books, and licensed products.
Designing the First Enterprise
No. The original 1701 registry number was kept to honor the original, the letter designation is similar to British monarchs choosing their ruling name, like King George III (the third). Wolverine Studios (Nov 25, 2016) Ya, I read most of this in an old book called The Making of Star Trek, it came out sometime just after the end of The Original ...
The History Of The Starship Enterprise Explained
By the turn of the millennium there was even a prequel spinoff named for the vessel, and in 2022, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" ventured back aboard the original classic starship.
Star Trek
Star Trek was created by American writer and producer Gene Roddenberry and chronicles the exploits of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise, whose five-year mission is to explore space and, as stated in the title sequence, "to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." The series takes place in the 23rd century, after a benign and advanced alien ...
Ex Astris Scientia
Starship Database. The database lists all canon starships and other spaceborne constructions of the Star Trek Universe by races and classes. Schematic side views and technical specs are included where available. The data is mainly based on the very episodes and on official sources. In some cases, however, obvious errors had to be corrected.
'Star Trek' Starship Enterpise Evolution in Photos
Star Trek: The Animated Series ran from 1973-1974, and featured a Starship Enterprise retaining the original TV show's design, though the producers altered certain interior features, such as a ...
Starships
A list of starships by: Andorian starships Borg starships Cardassian starships Dominion starships Earth starships Federation starships Ferengi starships Klingon starships Romulan starships Vulcan starships Category:Starships for a full listing of all starships Star Trek Ships: Expanded - Others...
List of Star Trek Starfleet starships
These vessels appear or are mentioned in the original Star Trek series (TOS), Star Trek: The Animated Series (T. ... The 2nd starship to bear the name Kongo NCC-42173 was a Excelsior Class Starship and was put in to service on Stardate: 2/2812 in the year 2343. The Kongo served with distinction up until late 2371, and was under the command of ...
The Fleet's In: 24th Century Federation Starships
The U.S.S. Enterprise-C remains the most well known Ambassador-class vessel due to its namesake, its prominence in the classic "Yesterday's Enterprise," and its valiant rescue of the Klingon outpost on Narendra III from Romulan aggressors.Variants of this starship also notably appeared in Captain Picard's blockade during the Klingon Civil War, at the Battle of Wolf 359, and as a transport ...
USS Intrepid (NCC-1631)
The USS Intrepid (NCC-1631) was a 23rd century Federation Constitution-class starship operated by Starfleet. This ship was crewed entirely by Vulcans. (TOS: "The Immunity Syndrome") In 2267, the Intrepid was undergoing repairs in maintenance section 18 at Starbase 11. The base commander, Commodore Stone, rescheduled the Intrepid's repairs, upon giving the USS Enterprise "priority one" status ...
Star Trek (TV Series 1966-1969)
Star Trek: Created by Gene Roddenberry. With Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.
Star Trek Ship Names Ordered By Class
The history of Star Trek dates back to 1966-1967 with The Original Series Season 1. All this began when a writer and former Air Force pilot, Gene Roddenberry, wanted to make a science fiction TV show that featured characters that show humanity at its best. Since then, there has been no looking back as Star Trek has become one of the most popular sci-fi television shows of all time.
List of canon starships
The U.S.S. Defiant is a Defiant class starship in service since 2375.Originally named Sao Paulo, she was the replacement for the original U.S.S. Defiant which was destroyed during the Second Battle of Chin'toka. The ship famously fought in the final battles of the Dominion War under the command of Benjamin Sisko.In 2410 the ship is stationed at Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and its crew. It acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series ( TOS) to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began. [2] The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy ...
Court is the final frontier for this lost 'Star Trek' model
The 33-inch original model of the U.S.S. Enterprise from the 1960s TV series "Star Trek" resurfaced decades after it disappeared. But then an auction house gave it to the son of Gene Roddenberry ...
Star Trek: DS9 Blew Up An Enterprise Starship To Make A Point
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine blew up a USS Enterprise-style starship to prove a point in its season 2 finale.DS9 had struggled to break away from the shadow of its parent show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the season 2 finale, "The Jem'Hadar" afforded Deep Space NIne a perfect chance to establish its unique identity.DS9's season 2 finale aired three weeks after TNG came to an end with ...
Star Trek: Discovery's Tig Notaro Told Us The Awful Original Name ...
W hen ranking the coolest members of the crew on Star Trek: Discovery, I don't think it's much of a conversation about who is sitting in the top spot. Commander Jett Reno joined the crew in Season ...
Federation starship classes
The following is a list of starship classes operated by the Federation. Because of the strong connotations with the real world United States Navy, Star Trek: The Original Series Producers Gene Roddenberry and Robert H. Justman (a World War II navy veteran himself) had imbued Starfleet with (The Making of Star Trek, p. 112, et al.; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, 1st ed, pp. 28-29; see ...
Master Replica Ending STAR TREK Starship Sales on June 15
Master Replicas has been selling stock of Eaglemoss-made Star Trek starship models since that company went out of business in 2022, giving fans who missed out on the original runs of the 200+ models to complete their collections. Now, just over a year since the company took ownership of the leftover Official Starship Collection inventory, Master Replicas has announced that their license to ...
SpaceX Starship's next launch 'probably 3 to 5 weeks' away, Elon Musk
That was the timeline Elon Musk offered in a post on X over the weekend, saying Starship's next test flight is "probably 3 to 5 weeks" away. "Objective is for the ship to get past max heating, or ...
Spacecraft in Star Trek
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 ...
Star Trek: Discovery's 4 Starfleet Ships Saving Federation HQ
Star Trek: Discovery has yet to show the 32nd-century USS Enterprise or determine what generation the legendary starship has reached. The Enterprise was mentioned in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, joining the USS Voyager-J to scan a subspace rift left behind by the Dark Matter Anomaly. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 introduced the USS Antares, the starship formerly commanded by Captain Rayner ...
US$800,000 lost model of Star Trek's USS Enterprise, found in a ...
In 2022, at a Heritage auction of 75 props and items, a Starfleet Communicator from the 1990s series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sold for US$27,500 while a pair of Spock's prosthetic Vulcan ear ...
WARP FIVE: Elias Toufexis Gives Face to the Breen and L'ak ...
[RELATED: WARP FIVE: Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis on Star Trek's Unrelenting Star-Crossed Lovers] Unlike Toufexis, his character L'ak had a more difficult upbringing as the Scion of the Breen Imperium.In "Mirrors," we saw as the direct descendent of the emperor, he turned his back on the Imperium in the name of love to be with Moll, marking them both with a Breen erigah — a blood bounty.