Starship class The Starship - class was a spacecraft classification used by the Starfleet from its inception in the mid - 22nd century to the mid - 23rd century . The exclusivity of the term " starship " as a class essentially fell out of use by the mid to late 23rd century , and was redefined as a term interchangeable with spaceship and spacecraft . Starship - class vessels , like the , were then referred to as Heavy Cruisers . ( ; ; ) The was listed on its Federation dedication plaque as a Starship - class vessel when it was reported missing in 2164 . ( ) The mid - 23rd century " Constitution " - class was listed as being in the Starship - class on the dedication plaque of the . Starships were also identified exclusively as vessels operated by Starfleet , or as stated by R . M . Merik , " " a very special vessel and crew " " . ( ) Within the Federation , Starships were viewed as the role of protector within the civilian community , as Starship captain s were given a certain level of authority in the region they patrolled . ( ) Generally limited to the roles of exploration and defense , Starships typically did not transport cargo except in the case of an emergency . ( ) Design was also a factor in defining a Starship . The configuration of a vessel , as identified by sensor scans , could be used in identifying a Starship . ( ) Likewise , a Starship could be identified on sensors by its power utilization curve , as a vessel utilizing 100 % power had the ability to skew sensor readings . ( ) " Constitution " - class had replaced Starship - class on the dedication plaque of the in 2268 . ( ) " The alternate reality version of the was also listed as being in the Starship - class on that reality ' s s dedication plaque . ( ; ; ) Appendices . Background information . Production materials reproduced in Stephen Whitfield ' s " The Making of Star Trek " suggested that the term " Starship " was a unique designation for space - going vessels . In that vein , the and her sister ships were originally designated " Starship - class " vessels . The dedication plaque on the bridge designates the ship as " USS " Enterprise " , " Starship " - Class " . Harcourt Mudd referred to the ship and others of its ilk with that same term in the final draft script of ( dated ) , though the on - screen equivalent of the line changes it to Mudd merely calling the " Enterprise " and its counterparts " starships " . The term " " Constitution " - class " originated from the script for the season one episode . Scenes 44 and 48 of the second revised final draft script for " Space Seed " ( dated ) had the following content : and , That the scripted screen indicators indeed pertained to Kirk ' s ship followed from the prior conversation : The graphic that was constructed for this script direction , but which was ultimately not used in the episode according to the influential " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " article by Greg Jein , published in the April 1973 issue 27 of the " T - Negative " fanzine , did make its first canon appearance in the second season episode , as an otherwise unreadable graphic of a technical journal on a computer screen that Scotty was reading , showing a phaser bank diagram for a " " Constitution " - class " starship . The graphic was actually created by Art Director Matt Jefferies , who used his own extensive aviation library as his source . Depicted were two varieties of hydraulic fluid reservoirs , used by the US Air Force at the time . The graphic was endowed with a caption , gleaned by Jein for his article after he had obtained a trimmed clipping from Lincoln Enterprises showing the graphic in its entirety , that read , While this scripted reference was " understood " to have established the " Enterprise " belonging to the " Constitution " - class ever since by production staff ers and fan s alike , it was not until 1982 that the designation started to seep into canon . Authors of reference works such as Franz Joseph ' s " Star Fleet Technical Manual " were privy to scripts ' contents , and to the fact that " Enterprise " herself was " Constitution " - class , even though it had never been mentioned in dialogue or been readable on screen . Drawings from the aforementioned " Technical Manual " with the class name appeared on screen , again unreadable , in " The Wrath of Khan " and " The Search for Spock " . These were the first occasions a canonical production assigned the " Constitution " name to the class designation of the " Enterprise " . " The Voyage Home " assigned this class name to the refit - " Enterprise " as well , although some production staff previously and , apparently , unofficially called that design , which actually was utilized , and discernible , for the Mark IV bridge simulator seen in " The Wrath of Khan " . The name " Enterprise " - class was also used in reference to the refitted " Enterprise " and the " Enterprise " - A in " Mr . Scott ' s Guide to the Enterprise " , though that particular reference book is neither considered canon nor " official " . ( ) The first time it was actually referred to as such in dialogue , was by Captain Jean - Luc Picard in the first season episode of , which was followed by the first firm visual , clearly legible , confirmation in the form of the heading of a blueprint Scotty was examining in , firmly establishing the fact in canon and concurrently dispelling any " Enterprise " - class notion definitively , as this blueprint also clearly noted his ship as a " Constitution " - class vessel . The designation has been mentioned several times and been more prominently visible in later series and episodes referencing ships of the " Original Series " and movies design . In the episode " In a Mirror , Darkly " the dedication plaque of the ( NCC - 1764 ) clearly stated that she belonged to the " Constitution " - class ( In the original third season episode , the plaque , which was of course " Enterprise " s , could not be seen due to deliberate camera angles ) . Not being one of the ships listed in the original final names list as reproduced in " The Making of Star Trek " ( p . 165 ) , used by the production team of the series , and although not being canon , this strongly suggested two things according to Greg Jein ; Firstly , Starfleet changed its nomenclature from " Starship " - class to " Constitution " - class during the run of the " Original Series " - era ( nicely tying in with Scotty keeping abreast by reading technical updates for the ship he is working on , and actually confirmed in canon with the introduction of the " Defiant " plaque in " In a Mirror , Darkly " ) , and secondly , the " Defiant " belonged to a later batch of " Constitutions " ( supported by the fact she has the highest registry number of all the definitively established " Constitutions " ) . Commissioned somewhere during the " Original Series " - era , she therefore had an unfortunately short career , at least in " Star Trek " s prime universe , or as Jein had succinctly put it , " " Tough break " " . The " Starship " term denoted a large , multi - purpose vessel capable of taking on a variety of tasks during an extended mission , often at some distance from central authority . ( The nearest 24th century equivalent designation would be that of Explorer . ) This helps explain Merrik ' s reference to a " very special type of vessel and crew " ( " . . . Kirk commands , not just a spaceship , but a " Starship " " ) , as well as the numerous references to the extraordinary amount of authority granted to the captain of such a ship . However , in , as well as everything afterwards , the term fell into a more " generic " use , first as describing Federation vessels in general , and then large , faster - than - light - capable vessels from a range of cultures . Likewise , the " NCC " registry was originally to be used only for the self - same " Starship " - class vessels , just like the modern CVN registry is used for nuclear - powered aircraft carriers of the United States ( example ; ) . That , too , as of TMP , had become " generic " among Starfleet ships . The NCC was inspired by the modern NC registry for non - commissioned ( civilian ) ships in the military . Since the " Starship " was an exploration vessel first and combat vessel secondary , Gene Roddenberry liked the parallel .