Enterprise ( NX - 01 ) One of the most important starship s in interstellar history , " Enterprise " ( NX - 01 ) was the culmination of the NX Project . The NX - 01 was the first starship , launched by the United Earth Starfleet in 2151 . ( ) " Enterprise " established United Earth as a legitimate interstellar power and caused a wholesale revolution in Alpha and Beta Quadrant politics , paving the way for the creation of the Coalition of Planets in 2155 , and eventually the United Federation of Planets in 2161 . ( , , ) History . Development . For Human ity to make space exploration missions possible within a single natural lifetime , Humans had to make themselves capable of traveling faster than warp 1 , the speed of light . After Zefram Cochrane made a successful warp test flight in the " Phoenix " in 2063 , the propulsion system he created was further developed . In 2119 , several engineers , such as Henry Archer and Cochrane himself , began the work that paved the way directly to " Enterprise " , at the Warp Five Complex in Bozeman , Montana . Over the next thirty - two years , warp engine development continued until Humanity ' s first warp 5 engine was created . This engine was capable of speeds that finally made interstellar travel in more survivable periods possible – that is , in days , weeks or months , instead of years . Consequently , Humanity was able to construct its first warp 5 capable starship , " Enterprise " , completed in 2151 . Initially , " Enterprise " had a theoretical maximum speed of warp 4 . 5 . Aside from its engine , " Enterprise " was also the first Earth vessel to be equipped with a transporter rated for transporting biological organisms . ( ) However , the machine malfunctioned a number of times before the initial bugs were worked out . ( ) The preferred method of travel was still the shuttlepod , unless all other options were exhausted . After trips in the pod , it was standard procedure for returning crew and passengers to utilize the decontamination chamber . ( , et al . ) The ship was not as advanced in all areas , however ; unlike the Vulcan ships of its day , it did not possess tractor beam s , merely magnetic grappler s . ( , et al . ) " Enterprise " had a standard crew complement of eighty - three Humans , with the addition of a Vulcan and a Denobulan ; approximately a third of the crew was female . ( ) Prior to its launch , Captain Gardner was considered for command of " Enterprise " , regarded as the most suitable choice by Ambassador Soval . Admiral Maxwell Forrest ultimately narrowed down the candidates for the captaincy to Jonathan Archer and A . G . Robinson instead , though , pointing out that the Vulcan High Command was not in charge of Starfleet ' s personnel assignments . In 2150 , the year her keel was laid , Forrest finally selected Archer . ( ) The historical significance of " Enterprise " was related in a drawing of the ship that hung in Archer ' s ready room ; the image was part of a series of paintings , depicting the historical lineage of ships called " Enterprise " . ( ) Launch and early missions . Following the Broken Bow Incident in April 2151 , the launch of " Enterprise " was rearranged for three weeks ahead of schedule . The reason the ship ' s maiden voyage was brought forward was that United Earth needed to return Klaang , a Klingon , to his homeworld of Qo ' noS . ( ; ) The early launch was strongly protested by Vulcan Ambassador Soval , who believed Humanity was not ready to explore space . He did manage to wrangle a concession from Starfleet , forcing Archer to allow the placement of Sub - Commander T ' Pol , of the Vulcan High Command , on his vessel in exchange for Vulcan star chart s . The send - off went ahead , " Enterprise " launching from the Orbital Drydock Facility on April 16 , 2151 , under Captain Archer ' s command . ( ) However , the vessel ' s early launch meant it left spacedock somewhat unfinished ; its spatial torpedo es were uncalibrated , and its phase cannon s had not even been installed . ( ) Once Klaang was returned , " Enterprise " soon explored an argon - rich planet occupied by slug - like animals . The ship ' s spatial torpedoes were calibrated in the heat of battle , in May of 2151 ; the ship only survived because of the intervention of the Axanar . ( ) Not long afterwards , the crew descended on and explored their first class M planet , eventually named Archer IV . ( " library computer " file ) The crew also made first contact with a pre - warp civilization shortly afterwards . ( ) The phase cannons were not installed until September of 2151 , while " Enterprise " battled an unknown enemy . ( ) When a Mazarite ship attacked " Enterprise " in February 2152 , the first shot disabled " Enterprise " s aft sensors . ( ) " Enterprise " reached Warp 5 for the first time while attempting to outrun the Mazarite ship and carrying Vulcan ambassador V ' Lar . ( ) Brief cancellation and missions afterward . By of 2152 , ten months after launching , " Enterprise " had engaged in armed conflicts with more than a dozen species . That month , the ship ' s mission was canceled when one of its shuttlepods appeared to have ignited tetrazine gas within the atmosphere of Paraagan II , killing 3 , 600 innocent colonists . It was this event , along with the ship ' s actions at other planets including P ' Jem and Tandar Prime , that caused the Starfleet Command Council to recall " Enterprise " to Earth . ( ) Ambassador Soval recommended that United Earth wait another ten to twenty years before trying another deep space exploration mission . ( ) Captain Archer was able to convince the Starfleet Command Council and the Vulcan High Command to allow " Enterprise " to continue , particularly after it was revealed that the accident had been triggered by the Suliban Cabal . ( ) In April of 2152 , " Enterprise " struck a cloaked mine in a Romulan minefield and consequently suffered a large series of hull breach es . Another of the mines became attached to the ship ' s hull , pinning Lieutenant Malcolm Reed to the hull . After Captain Archer failed to defuse this mine , the section of the ship ' s hull that Reed and the mine were attached to was separated from the rest of the ship , with Archer on it together with Reed . Because a pair of that were nearby charged their weapons , " Enterprise " s hull plating needed to be polarized , even despite the absence of the detached hull section . ( ) The damage was so extensive , though , that the ship ' s port bow plating couldn ' t be polarized until the hull breaches were sealed . ( ) After the mine was safely detonated , " Enterprise " rescued Archer and Reed , then vacated the area . ( ) It was estimated that repairing the damage to " Enterprise " would take , assuming the ship found some tritanium alloy , between three and four months . The ship was reduced to only short - range communications – as its subspace antenna had been damaged – and a possible maximum speed of warp 2 . 1 . Fortunately , the craft was directed by a passing Tellarite vessel to an automated repair station . " Enterprise " was repaired , though the crew was forced to destroy the facility when it was revealed that it had taken hostage one of their crew members . ( ) A plasma injector nevertheless failed shortly thereafter , necessitating a trip to the Kreetassan homeworld . There , the ship was gifted three plasma injectors , despite only needing one , and kept the other two as spares . ( ) " Enterprise " likewise picked up 2000 liters of deuterium from a mining colony , whereas only 200 liters had been requested . ( ) Owing to the ship ' s actions in previous conflicts such as its latest with the Suliban and the battle with the Mazarites , Lieutenant Reed came to the opinion that " Enterprise " and its crew were taking too long to respond to potential threats , so he began developing a tactical alert system for the vessel . According to him , security aboard the craft had been a point of contention between himself and Captain Archer since " Enterprise " s launch , with Reed taking more of a proactive approach than the captain . Because the vessel ' s crew became affected by a dangerous type of mind - altering radiation from a nearby trinary star system , " Enterprise " had to be piloted through a debris field . The ship was steered by Archer almost single - handedly , though with navigational assistance from T ' Pol , and the newly invented tactical alert was at one point instrumental in executing these maneuvers without the craft receiving too much damage . ( ) While attempting to pursue and detain a Retellian freighter in September 2152 , " Enterprise " became crippled ; a cloud released from the freighter , comprised of dilithium hydroxyl s and ion ized pyrosulfate s , clogged the NX - class starship ' s plasma vent s , temporarily preventing the vessel from engaging its warp drive . ( ) By September 18 , 2152 , " Enterprise " had travelled over 100 light year s from Earth . In order to traverse a neutronic storm which reached the ship on that date , the ship ' s structural integrity was reinforced and the craft ' s power grid was deactivated , illuminating all shipboard areas in only blue emergency light s . These modifications were made by the crew , who took refuge in the vessel ' s catwalk together with their belongings . To accommodate the crew , the ship ' s warp reactor was shut down and numerous modifications were made to the catwalk . For example , command of the vessel was transferred from the main bridge to a temporary command post in one of the catwalk ' s compartments . The engineering team had only four hours to make the necessary changes . Upon addressing the crew with an initial speech whose audio was broadcast from the makeshift command area , Archer referred to " Enterprise " as " the sturdiest ship " in Starfleet . After the vessel ' s hull plating was polarized , " Enterprise " shakily entered the neutronic storm , with early spatial turbulence that at first disabled the vessel ' s aft stabilizer s . The ship continued to experience occasional turbulence , albeit mostly minor , through its duration in the storm , which was scheduled to take eight days . Also during that period , the vessel – while more than twenty light years away from the Takret homeworld – was invaded by the Takret Militia , who were under the impression the ship had been abandoned by its crew . The military officers therefore worked on restoring power to the craft , though a three - person team of " Enterprise " officers set out to stop them , with the lives of the other crew members at stake . In an on - screen confrontation between Archer and the Takret captain , Archer threatened to destroy the ship . The Takret captain , who had been reading about the craft , extremely doubted Archer would do anything to even damage the vessel , but Takret Lieutenant Paltani did believe Archer . The ship , heading towards a plasma eddy which gradually increased the turbulence felt aboard the craft , was successfully sabotaged by its crew , and the worsening shipboard conditions influenced the Takret Militia to withdraw . The vessel was in danger of being ripped in two by the plasma eddy when the craft finally veered away from it . Shortly thereafter , " Enterprise " managed to leave the storm earlier than expected , allowing all the crew to return with their belongings to the rest of the ship . ( ) Later that year , " Enterprise " was consumed by a wisp ship while they were 150 light years from Earth . Due to being encased in the alien vessel , " Enterprise " had its weapons , both the phase cannons and torpedoes , and engines , both warp and impulse , disabled . Also , " Enterprise " s sensors were rendered unable to penetrate the other ship ' s hull or detect any lifeforms in the wisp craft , though the wisp s themselves were actually non - corporeal beings which proceeded to inhabit officers aboard " Enterprise " but also released the ship . The vessel ' s impulse engines were made operational shortly thereafter thanks to the engineering staff , but the fact that the wisps had captured the officers they had replaced prevented Archer from ordering the ship ' s departure until the missing personnel had been returned . After it was discovered that an osmium alloy which reinforced the ship ' s catwalk additionally shielded that area from the wisps , the uninhabited members of the crew , of whom there were fifty - eight persons , took refuge in the catwalk , leaving the possessed officers confined to quarters . Phlox managed to temporarily vent carbon dioxide into all areas except for the catwalk , which rid the vessel of the alien intruders , and " Enterprise " finally departed , destroying the wisp ship while leaving . ( ) Shortly thereafter , " Enterprise " picked up a distress call from a group of Arin ' Sen fugitives who had left a colony which had been annexed by the Klingon Empire . The ship docked with their Klingon transport and brought them aboard . By the time it first detected the battle cruiser approaching , " Enterprise " had brought all the refugees aboard , so the starship left their transport behind . In preparation for defending " Enterprise " , Archer ordered the ship to assume tactical alert and instructed that a torpedo be readied to ignite plasma in a nearby planetary ring system . " Enterprise " was subsequently attacked by the " Bortas " but retaliated , and a space battle ensued . During the confrontation , " Enterprise " lured the Klingon vessel into the rings of the planetary ring system and , by igniting the plasma , managed to cripple the Klingon ship before escaping with the refugees . " Enterprise " didn ' t destroy the " Bortas " because Archer didn ' t consider the ship ' s commanding officer – Duras , son of Toral – his enemy . When Duras subsequently gave false testimony against Captain Archer , the latter ' s ship was referred to as " the battle cruiser " Enterprise " " . Duras , no longer the commander of the " Bortas " , had apparently warned Archer that " Enterprise " was " inferior " to that vessel . In Duras ' version of events , " Enterprise " had nonetheless been the first craft to open fire . The ship was permitted to orbit Narendra III while Archer was tried there but , as soon as he was sentenced to life imprisonment on Rura Penthe , the vessel complied with orders from the Klingons that forced the craft to immediately leave , though Archer was covertly freed by Lieutenant Reed some time later . ( ) In January 2153 , " Enterprise " received orders to reverse course and make a temporary detour by nearly thirty light years , in order to study a certain planet that was about to start erupting with active volcano es . Since the rescheduled course was going to pass near the , " Enterprise " took ten hours off its flight path in order to briefly rendezvous with the " Horizon " , allowing Ensign Travis Mayweather an opportunity to make a return visit home , as he had grown up on the " Horizon " and most of his family still lived there . By this time , eighteen months after launching , " Enterprise " had visited twenty - two inhabited planets , though had not been to Trelkis III . ( ) Search for the Xindi weapon . After the Xindi attacked Earth in March of 2153 , " Enterprise " was recalled home . Arriving on April 24 , " Enterprise " was refitted and upgraded with the new photonic torpedo es , enhanced hull plating , a universal translator update , and a new command center . The ship also took on board a detachment of MACO s , before being relaunched on a new mission to the Delphic Expanse to search for the Xindi weapon . ( ) The search for the Xindi was long and perilous , taking almost a year . " Enterprise " was in danger much of the time in the Expanse , due to the presence of spatial anomalies generated by massive spheres in the region . ( ) It was discovered that insulating the hull with trellium - D could protect the ship from the anomalies , but unfortunately , trellium was hazardous to Vulcan neural pathways , and Captain Archer refused to let Sub - Commander T ' Pol leave the ship . Hence , the shielding could not be used . ( ) Eventually , T ' Pol discovered a way to determine or predict the spatial anomalies as well as the locations of the spheres . During an exploration to verify T ' Pol ' s theory , decks B , C , and E were breached and decompressed . ( ) " Enterprise " then spent around two weeks in a polaric field , in which the ship was covered with highly charged and magnetic nucleonic particle s , primarily ferric ion s , that formed a strong particulate which generated a power - dampening dia - magnetic field capable of shutting down all shipboard systems , including life support . The crew eventually was able to use the ship ' s shuttlepods to tow the ship out of the field , and the nucleonic particles detached from the hull once " Enterprise " was clear . ( ) Afterwards , " Enterprise " was hijacked by Triannon fanatics with organic explosives implanted in their bodies . During the event , part of the ship ' s hull was damaged and one crewman died . ( ) In February of 2154 , " Enterprise " determined the location of the Xindi weapon and arrived in the Azati Prime system . ( ) There , the ship suffered severe damage , due to attacks by multiple Xindi vessels . The ship ' s primary warp coil was destroyed , damage that required Captain Archer to eventually attack an Illyrian ship . That craft had a warp coil that " Enterprise " s crew could use , which would let them arrive on time to a meeting with Degra . ( ) " Enterprise " might have endured even more damage in the Delphic Expanse , if not for the intervention of an alternate future version of " Enterprise " , which had traveled 117 years into the past when attempting to use a subspace corridor . ( ) " Enterprise " accomplished its mission to destroy the Xindi weapon successfully , though Captain Archer was presumed to have died when the weapon had exploded . The starship was returned to Earth by a Xindi - Aquatic cruiser following the end of the mission , though " Enterprise " made a slight detour to an alternate version of 1944 with the help of temporal agent . During this mission , Archer rejoined the ship after stopping Vosk ' s attempt to return to his own time , and subsequently bringing an end to the Temporal Cold War that had , for so long , plagued " Enterprise " s mission . ( ) Twenty - seven " Enterprise " crew members died during the search for the Xindi weapon . ( ) See also : Xindi incident After returning home . The members of " Enterprise " s crew were hailed as heroes upon returning to Earth , especially Captain Archer , for whom several schools were named . " Enterprise " was placed into drydock , where it began an extensive repair and refit . Modifications to the ship included a new captain ' s chair , an upgrade to the transporter , and repainted door panels . ( ) In May of 2154 , a group of rogue Augment s , left over from the Eugenics Wars , stole a Klingon Bird - of - Prey and killed its entire crew . The Klingon Empire threatened United Earth with war , unless the Augments were apprehended . After a debriefing and refit , " Enterprise " was relaunched with Arik Soong on board to try to hunt down the Augments on the border of the Orion Syndicate . After several brief firefights with Orion Interceptor s , the Augments found " Enterprise " , took Soong aboard their ship , and set course to Cold Station 12 . " Enterprise " pursued but failed to stop Soong from taking thousands of unborn Augment embryos . Soong then headed to the Briar Patch ; however , the Augments turned on him , and headed to a Klingon colony to attempt the release of several types of pathogens into the atmosphere . " Enterprise " arrived in time to stop the Augments , destroying them and their Bird - of - Prey . ( ) When the United Earth Embassy on was bombed , " Enterprise " was ordered to the Vulcan system to investigate . The Vulcan High Command postulated that the Syrrannite s had been behind the bombing . The crew discovered a bomb still in the wreckage of the embassy and confirmed that DNA of a well - known Syrrannite , T ' Pau , was on the bomb , but this was later discovered to be faked . Archer and T ' Pol went on a quest to find T ' Pau in The Forge , leaving " Enterprise " in command of Commander Tucker . After challenging V ' Las ' evidence on the bombing , Ambassador Soval was thrown out of the High Command and decided to stay aboard the ship with the Humans . " Enterprise " was eventually ordered to leave the system , and refused to do so with its captain still on the planet , causing a skirmish with the Vulcans . Soval informed Acting Captain Tucker that the Vulcan High Command was preparing to attack Andoria . " Enterprise " traveled to a nearby nebula where they warned the Andorians , and then assisted them when the two fleets engaged each other . The Vulcan High Command called off the attack after only a short time , due to political changes – back on their homeworld – that caused the High Command to withdraw . The discovery of the ancient texts of Surak caused the dismissal of the High Command , and Starfleet activity was no longer to be regulated by the Vulcans . ( ) Some time after the Vulcan Reformation , Emory Erickson performed a major overhaul of the transporter in an experiment on " Enterprise " , boosting the transporter range to more than 40 , 000 kilometer s . The upgrade replaced the old transporter control pedestal with a much more advanced control system . The upgrade turned out to be part of a ruse to try to get back his son , who had been lost in a transporter accident , many years before . ( ) Later in 2154 , Commander Tucker and Ensign Hoshi Sato were infected with a silicon - based virus while on an away mission . The virus was used by the Organian s to test races , then , if passing , make first contact with them . As a result , a part of " Enterprise " had to be sealed off in quarantine . ( ) In November of 2154 , " Enterprise " carried a Tellarite delegation , including Ambassador Gral , to Babel . On the way there , the starship received a distress call from the Andorian warship " Kumari " . The warship had been attacked by an unknown ship , although Andorian Commander Shran blamed the Tellarites for the destruction of his vessel . Eventually , the crew of " Enterprise " learned that the " Kumari " had been attacked by a prototype Romulan drone ship which was able to holographically disguise itself as other vessels . Gral and Shran eventually managed to work out their differences , and " Enterprise " rendezvoused with a Tellarite transport ship which returned Gral and his delegation to Tellar Prime . " Enterprise " continued to Andoria , where Captain Archer and Commander Shran encountered the Aenar , a blind race of telepaths . A member of the Aenar , Jhamel , returned to " Enterprise " with Archer and Shran , and assisted in the destruction of the drone ships which the Romulans had launched from their home system . Again , the starship journeyed to Andoria , where Shran and Jhamel left the ship . ( ) " Enterprise " returned to Earth on November 27 , 2154 . While there , Chief Engineer Charles Tucker transferred to the new NX - 02 , " Columbia " . On Earth , Doctor Phlox was assaulted and captured by Rigelian s . " Enterprise " followed the warp trail of a Rigelian freighter which had left Earth , two hours after Phlox ' s abduction . When the starship arrived at the freighter ' s coordinates , the Rigelian craft had been seriously damaged and only wreckage remained . As " Enterprise " s crew attempted to determine the identity of the freighter ' s destroyer , a Klingon vessel attacked the starship . An away team from the Klingon craft beamed aboard and sabotage d " Enterprise " s systems . Although the Klingons returned to their ship , " Enterprise " was unable to follow , due to the sabotage . ( ) In the end , " Enterprise " was repaired thanks to a risky maneuver on the part of " Columbia " , when Tucker was sent back to his old ship via a grappler wire extended between the two ships while at warp . " Columbia " and " Enterprise " then took on the mission of rescuing Phlox together . The crews were able to also save the Klingon species , with the help of Phlox , from a mutated version of a virus combined with Augment DNA . The infected Klingons were left with flat foreheads like Humans , without cranial ridges , a state from which it took almost a century for them to recover . ( ) A few days after this Klingon mission , an Orion man named Harrad - Sar came to present an offer to Archer ; he would permit Starfleet use of a planet he had discovered , rich in magnesite . Starfleet would do the mining , BUT in return however he would get ten percent of the shares . To seal the deal , three Orion slave girl s were given , as a gift , to Captain Archer . The girls were able to seduce the crew by controlling the men , and disable the women . Tucker and T ' Pol , the only two unaffected , were able to foil their plans . Harrad - Sar came to drag " Enterprise " back to the Orion Syndicate , because they wanted Archer ' s head , whether or not it was attached to his body . The crew of " Enterprise " stopped him by sending a shock through the deflector temporarily disabling his ship . ( ) " Enterprise " was also present when Earth ' s leadership announced new trade relations with Vulcan , Andoria , Tellar , and Coridan , in January 2155 . The members of " Enterprise " s crew were hailed as heroes laying the ground work for that alliance , a precursor to the formation of the United Federation of Planets . During this conference , the crew was instrumental in thwarting the militant Terra Prime organization , preventing efforts to eject all non - Humans after Terra Prime hijacked the Mars verteron array . ( ) At some point after this , the " Enterprise " crew paid another visit to Qo ' noS . ( ) Retirement . " Enterprise " was retired in 2161 to make way for new , more advanced starships . It was then placed in a Federation museum , where it still remained in the 24th century . ( ) Legacy . In 2257 , " Enterprise " was the last known Starfleet vessel to have visited the Klingon homeworld . ( ) Achievements . " Enterprise " s voyages of exploration were not entirely into unknown territory , as the ship was aided by the Vulcan star charts . However , it participated in several historically significant events , such as the discovery of the Temporal Cold War , ( ) the return to Terra Nova , ( ) continued involvement in Vulcan / Andorian hostilities , ( , et al . ) the destruction of the colony on Paraagan II , ( ) the first Human encounter with a non - corporeal lifeform , ( ) the discovery of a lost Human tribe in the Delphic Expanse , ( ) the Xindi incident , ( , " et al . " ) the Augment Crisis , ( , " et al . " ) the Vulcan Reformation ( , " et al . " ) and the formation of the first alliance with the Vulcans , Andorian s , and Tellarite s , ( ) which led to the founding of the Coalition of Planets . ( ) " Enterprise " also made Earth ' s first contact with numerous species , including : Alternate timelines . 2153 through 2165 . In one alternate timeline , Captain Archer ' s brain was infected with interspatial parasite s in October of 2153 . These parasites caused him to develop anterograde amnesia , and led to him being relieved of command . Sub - Commander T ' Pol received a field commission from Starfleet , becoming the ship ' s new captain . She continued the search for the Xindi weapon . In 2154 , the crew of " Enterprise " learned the weapon was being built at Azati Prime . But as they drew close , the ship was attacked by two Xindi - Reptilian vessels . The ship suffered substantial damage : thirteen crew members died , including Travis Mayweather , and twenty - three were injured . In addition , the starboard nacelle was out of commission , limiting the ship to warp 1 . 7 . By the time " Enterprise " reached Azati Prime at that speed , the weapon had been launched . " Enterprise " managed to follow it back to Earth through a subspace vortex , but the crew ' s efforts were in vain and Earth was destroyed . In 2155 , " Enterprise " led one of several convoys of survivors to Ceti Alpha V , where Humanity hoped to resettle , to escape the wrath of the Xindi . When the ship arrived there in 2156 , T ' Pol turned command over to Commander Tucker ; the ship ' s new responsibility was to patrol the Ceti Alpha system . The ship was upgraded with shields provided by General Shran of the Andorian Imperial Guard . In 2165 , " Enterprise " was attacked by Xindi forces that had finally located Ceti Alpha , just as Archer and T ' Pol had returned to the ship to attempt a treatment that would cure Archer . During the treatment , it was discovered that destruction of the parasites in the present erased them in the past ; curing Archer of the parasites would change history , so that he was never infected . In a desperate bid to change the timeline and save Earth , Archer and T ' Pol vaporized the ship in a subspace implosion , thus preventing the parasites in Archer ' s brain from ever having infected him , creating a new timeline . ( ) 2037 . In a different alternate timeline , the ship ' s trip through a subspace corridor from the Kovaalan nebula to the Xindi Council planet in February 2154 would have sent it to the year 2037 . The particle wake from a damaged impulse manifold caused the corridor to shift in time . Unable to return to the present , and at pains to prevent damaging the timeline by visiting Earth , Captain Archer decided to wait in the Delphic Expanse until the ship could stop the Xindi primary weapon from attacking Earth . To survive for all that time , " Enterprise " forged alliances with other species , trading its advanced technology for food and supplies . The ship even acquired alien crew members , such as Archer ' s wife , Esilia ; his great - granddaughter remained a member of the crew . With time , the ship acquired advances from other races as well . By 2154 , its atmosphere processors had been doubled in efficiency , it acquired an isomagnetic collector from the Ikaaran s , and it had a tractor beam installed . In addition , Haradin traders provided the technology to upgrade the plasma injector s and allow the ship to reach warp 6 . 9 for a brief time , but the ship ' s injectors were too old to take the stress , and so they couldn ' t use the technology . The ship had been repeatedly detected by Xindi tracking stations , but the readings were never confirmed . By 2153 , all of the original crew had died except for T ' Pol , now more in touch with her emotions than she had been in the past . Lorian was in command of the ship , Karyn Archer was executive officer and pilot , and Greer was tactical officer . " Enterprise " s crew tried to stop the Xindi probe from being launched at Earth , but Lorian gave the order to ram it too late , and the probe departed . In 2154 , " Enterprise " rendezvoused with the " Enterprise " of that time period , just before it entered the corridor . Lorian provided Archer with the Haradin specifications , but the future T ' Pol intervened , showing that performing the upgrade was too dangerous . She suggested " Enterprise " upgrade its impulse manifold to reduce particle wake , but Lorian refused to let Archer carry out the plan ; he stole the 2154 ship ' s injectors to use them himself . The two " Enterprise " s deadlocked in space battle , and Lorian eventually relented , agreeing to follow Archer ' s plan ; Archer ' s " Enterprise " made it safely through the corridor . ( ) Alternate reality . In 2259 of the alternate reality , a replica of this starship was on display in the office of Admiral . This ship was considered historically on par with the " Wright Flyer " , the " Spirit of St . Louis " , and the " Phoenix " , among others . ( ) Appendices . Appearances . The " Enterprise NX - 01 " appears in : Background information . Name . As evidenced by the second draft script of pilot episode , this ship was originally to have been called the SS " Enterprise " . In the proceedings before the show ' s premiere , that was how the vessel was repeatedly referred to . ( " " , paperback ed . , p . 260 ; ) Unlike later ships to bear the name , the NX " Enterprise " is generally referred to as a proper name , without a " the " , in the manner that one refers to James T . Kirk ' s ship , the . Concept origins . Among the first thoughts that " Star Trek : Enterprise " co - creator Rick Berman had for the series that became " Enterprise " was that he wanted the new series to be set on a spaceship that was heading out rather than making a return journey home , in order to differentiate the craft from the likes of Deep Space 9 and the . ( ) Having considered alternatives such as focusing the series on an era before there were ships or instead featuring a fleet of ships , Berman and fellow series co - creator Brannon Braga finally selected the idea that was to become " Enterprise " . " " We decided to make it the first warp five starship , " " Braga noted . ( audio commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD / Blu - ray ) Rick Berman originally imagined the series as following the ship ' s construction on Earth , an idea Brannon Braga also wanted to see actualized . They were interested in making either all or most of the series ' first season focus on the building of the vessel – which was , at that time , conceived as Earth ' s first warp 5 capable starship – and for the ship ' s development to be controversial among the Humans who were on Earth . The ship would have been depicted as launching after its construction was completed . Because executives at Paramount favored a more conventional setting for the new " Star Trek " series , however , the starship ' s launch was in the pilot episode . ( " To Boldly Go : Launching " Enterprise " , Part I : Countdown " , ENT Season 1 Blu - ray special features ) The dropped concept of showing " Enterprise " s construction thrilled Manny Coto . " " That would have been fascinating , to see " Enterprise " built , to start from scratch , from the very beginning , " " he enthused . Coto , a long - time fan of how Romulan scope s are used in without a viewscreen , also wished that " Enterprise " initially had had no viewscreen , with tubes similar to the Romulan devices instead being used by the crew to look outside the vessel , and that a viewscreen had been installed on the ship during the course of the series . ( " Before Her Time : Decommissioning " Enterprise " , Part One : New Voices " , ENT Season 4 Blu - ray special features ) Impact of identity . The fact that the NX - class " Enterprise " was planned to be the focus of a weekly series , which viewers would hopefully watch each week , meant that the design of its bridge was purposefully made to look comfortable and less claustrophobic than a submarine interior . ( ) Production Designer Herman Zimmerman contemplated the importance of the vessel ' s lineage while orchestrating the ship ' s design . He subsequently mused , " " In the case of " Star Trek " , it ' s a special kind of vehicle – no pun intended – for storytelling because it has such a rich history . " " ( " " , paperback ed . , p . 261 ) Both the historical significance of the vessel and how the craft was to be focused on in the show meant the ship not only needed to look like a realistic precursor of Captain Kirk ' s USS " Enterprise " but also " had to be interesting and something that the " Star Trek " fans would find exciting , " in Rick Berman ' s words . ( ) " Enterprise " was the first " hero " ship in a " Star Trek " series for which the development of its design was aided by CGI . ( , p . 34 ) The fact that the ship was planned to be portrayed on - screen over the course of seven years was not on CGI illustrator Doug Drexler ' s mind , though , as he set to work on creating a preliminary approval CGI model of the vessel , which he originally assumed would serve merely as a quick mock - up . ( , p . 26 ) The UPN press kit promoting the series included a blurred photograph that seemed to be of a door or a corridor aboard the ship , which stirred up online fan speculation about what the image showed . Rick Berman later responded , " " That ' s actually funny . We had no art which was approved at that point and that was an out - of - focus picture that was actually taken on one of our sets . " " ( , p . 15 ) The prototype CG model of the ship garnered promotion for the vessel , prior to the launch of the series . " " It appeared very early on in print before the high resolution model was ready , " " offered Doug Drexler . The vessel ' s early publicity also included Archer actor Scott Bakula giving a tour of the " Enterprise " sets . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 33 , No . 5 , p . 19 ) The uncertainty over how " Enterprise " would look was immediately apparent to Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong as they set to work on writing , the first regular episode of " Star Trek : Enterprise " . Hence , Sussman ' s first thought straight after they wrote " EXT . SPACE – ENTERPRISE " was to wonder what the ship actually looked like . Depicting the ship . Although both Herman Zimmerman and Doug Drexler favored a slightly bronze tint for " Enterprise " s hull , this coloration was altered after they sent the approval CG model of the craft to Foundation Imaging , to be refined into the high resolution version of the ship , for production . Regarding the alteration in color , Drexler later conceded , " " I don ’ t know where that change originated . " " At the time the high - resolution model was created , " Enterprise " was technically the most photo - realistic ship ever built for " Star Trek " . Fully meaning for that eventual model to be shown over the projected seven - year series run , Foundation Imaging attempted to make it as detailed as they possibly could . ( , pp . 25 & 26 ) No practical studio model s of " Enterprise " were ever made for the series ; it was the first " Star Trek " main ship to be depicted without the creation of a practical model . However , Doug Drexler did create a paper miniature of the vessel , a study model for Foundation Imaging to view what the ship would probably look like from certain angles . ( ) In the revised final draft script of " Broken Bow " , " Enterprise " was to be introduced with a close - up on a small section of the ship ' s hull , followed by the camera pulling back and action continuing from that point on . This doesn ' t match how the craft is introduced in the final version of the episode . However , the script did make it clear , in that and subsequent scenes , that the ship was only ever to be partly shown prior to its launch ( which was described as " " Our first full view of the majestic ship " " ) , which is true of how the vessel is depicted in the episode ' s final edit . During " Star Trek : Enterprise " s ultimately four - season run , the NX - class " Enterprise " appeared in all episodes of the series except for the two - part and ( though its mirror counterpart did appear in the former episode ) . As scripted for ENT penultimate episode and series finale , " Enterprise " was to be depicted in the last shot of both episodes in a slightly different way to how it is shown on screen at the conclusion of those two installments . For instance , the final draft script of " Terra Prime " had " Enterprise " , in the episode ' s final view of the ship , travel from the dark side of Earth to the side of the planet illuminated by Sol . In the final edit of the episode , though , " Enterprise " goes the opposite way , traveling from the light side of Earth to the darkened part . Also , " Enterprise " is traveling towards a blue nebula in the series ' last shot of the vessel , though no such nebula was mentioned in the final draft script of " These Are the Voyages . . . " . Other notes . Doug Drexler had a concept for the development of " Enterprise " that was never used on the show . " " My idea was that at the end of the fourth season , the ship would put into drydock for a major refit , " " he explained . " " After four years , out there , dealing with unknowns , it would be time to upgrade the ship based on everything they had learned . " " Drexler later assisted in the production of models of this " ( SS ) " Enterprise " NX - 01 Refit " for Polar Lights and the . A CG render of the ship also appeared in the calendar . The distinctive " Enterprise " NX - 01 emblem was created by Wendy Drapanas . ( ) ( Also see Assignment patch ) A great number of panels from the " Enterprise " sets have been sold off in the " It ' s A Wrap ! " sale and auction on eBay . A shelf , seen inside the set for the crew quarters , was also sold off at the auction . The Artisan prop and model shop of Quantum Mechanix , QMx FX Cinema Arts , was asked to illustrate the history of space flight with models for . The NX - class " Enterprise " was included in the models constructed , of which there were fourteen different classes in total . On the organization ' s website , there was a picture of the ship . Apocrypha . In novels set after the events of the Terra Prime crisis – during which it is revealed that Tucker ' s death was faked and future records altered so that he could investigate Romulan activity – " Enterprise " is involved in several major battles during the Earth - Romulan War up until the climactic Battle of Cheron in 2160 , during which she was crippled by the Romulan flagship , sustaining such serious damage that she had to be decommissioned . ( " To Brave the Storm " ; " A Choice of Futures " ) She is subsequently acquired by the Smithsonian Institution for its orbital annex , being meticulously restored with many interior surfaces covered in plastic to protect them from contact by visiting tourists . ( " A Choice of Futures " ) " Enterprise " is featured in the first few levels of the " " video game . Its levels are based off of the third season of " Enterprise " , and involve the search for and destruction of the Xindi weapon , as well as defeating the plans of the Sphere - Builder s . In addition , " Enterprise " appears in the game ' s last level , when a temporal anomaly appears near Earth . When the anomaly causes the to vanish , " Enterprise " is left alone to battle a fleet of Dominion warships . In the end , " Enterprise " NX - 01 joins forces with the , " Enterprise " - E , the , and USS " Voyager " to defeat a combined Xindi , Klingon , Romulan , Dominion , and Borg fleet . In the Pocket ENT novel " Beneath the Raptor ' s Wing " , the Latin phrase " Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit " was added to " Enterprise " s mission patch . It was chosen , and then translated , from a speech given by Zefram Cochrane before his disappearance . In the alternate reality , " Enterprise " appears as a holographic depiction in young ' s bedroom during the 2240s near the start of the comic " " .