Nova class The " Nova " - class was a type of Federation starship designed for short - term planet ary research missions . It was placed in service starting in the late 24th century . History . In 2370 , some " Nova " - class starships were constructed in the Sol system at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards , around stardate 47007 . 1 . was constructed and launched at this time . ( dedication plaque ) Schematics of the " Nova " - class were contained in the 31st century database kept by temporal agent aboard the . They were viewed by Captain Jonathan Archer and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed who accessed his database in 2151 . ( ) They were later viewed by Archer and T ' Pol in Daniels ' database the following year . ( ) " In an alternate 2404 , a refit of the " Nova " - class was in use . The interior of the ship was almost the same , however , the exterior had a number of changes . The refit also had superior tactical firepower and shield strength to that of its predecessor . " ( ) " In another timeline , the refit of this class was still in use during the 26th century by the Federation and was involved in the pivotal Battle of Procyon V . " ( ) Technical data . The " Nova " - class was designed as a science and scout vessel , intended for short - term planetary research and analysis . It is not typically suitable for combat operations . The " Nova " design has a maximum speed of warp 8 and approximately eighty crewmembers . One unique feature of the " Nova " - class is its Waverider shuttle , which is located in a special docking port on the ventral side of the primary hull , similar to that of the Aeroshuttle on the . Physical arrangement . The " Nova " - class had a design similar to that of an " Intrepid " - class starship , though smaller in size . It consisted of a saucer section with a curved triangular shape . The secondary hull was directly attached to the underside of the saucer with two warp nacelle s . Unlike some starship designs , the " Nova " - class only featured one impulse drive , located at the aft end of deck 2 aligned center to the ship . Tactical systems . Though " Nova " s were science vessels , they had a wide assortment of weaponry , allowing the vessel to handle many threats on its own . It was equipped with eleven strategically - placed phaser array s : eight on the saucer and three on the secondary hull , two forward - facing photon torpedo launchers at the bow of the saucer opposite of the secondary deflector , and one aft - facing launcher . Navigational deflector . In order to prevent space debris and objects from colliding and damaging the vessel , " Nova " - class vessels , like other Starfleet vessels , were equipped with a navigational deflector at the bow of the primary hull . If the main deflector was damaged or disabled , a secondary deflector on the saucer could substitute the main deflector . Like most Starfleet vessels , the " Nova " - class was also equipped with a deflector shield for defensive purposes . Shields on a " Nova " - class could be fully recharged after charging the shield emitter s for 45 seconds . This task required the shields to be dropped . The shield grid itself was located along the secondary hull . Interior design . Though a small ship , the " Nova " - class was able to accommodate the needs of the crew . This class of starship had eight decks . Main bridge . The main bridge , located near the center of deck 1 , was the command center for the ship . Despite the size of the ship , the spacious bridge allowed for the ease of movement between stations . The central command area on the bridge was at the very center of the circular area in a submerged location . The captain ' s chair was starboard side , and the executive officer ' s was on the port side . Between them was a console built into the structure that provided a place for information dissemination , as well as operational command of the starship . Directly ahead of the command area and down into a further sunken area , was the conn . The rest of the stations were located on the perimeter of the round bridge , including the master systems display behind the command seats and the main viewscreen in the standard frontwards position . Stations , such as tactical , were not stand - out stations due to the scientific nature of the design . When necessary , Tactical would usually be assigned to the forward , starboard side console just right of the main viewscreen . Entryways to the bridge were located at the port and starboard sides on the upper level . The port door leads to the main turbolift while the starboard door leads to a corridor that accesses other sections of deck 1 . Access to the captain ' s ready room was also located on port side . Main engineering . Main engineering was located on deck 7 . The " Nova " - class engineering section only spanned one deck , and featured four wall based engineering consoles and a warp core analysis console in front of the core itself . At the far end of the room was the warp core with a transparent floor and support railing around it . The core spanned from decks 5 - 8 and could be ejected from the bottom of the ship through an ejection hatch . The core could be accessed from either engineering or from the maintenance areas around the core . Sickbay and science labs . The " Nova " - class had one sickbay located on deck 4 , in front of the shuttlebay . The " Nova " - class medical facility was equipped with an Emergency Medical Hologram system , like the one on the USS " Voyager " . Additionally , as a science vessel , the " Nova " - class was equipped with a number of specially - equipped science and research lab s . The labs were similar to those found on an " Intrepid " - class vessel and served many purposes and supported numerous personnel . They featured a great number of work consoles to perform numerous tasks and had one main work console area in an alcove . Auxiliary craft and cargo bays . Behind the main sickbay were the two shuttlebay s . The aft - most shuttlebay ' s space doors were directly aft ( similar to the ) . The inner shuttlebay ' s doors opened directly above . An additional view of the secondary shuttlebay can be seen ( the aft - most black rectangle on the dorsal side of the ship ) . In the saucer on deck 4 , a short trip from the shuttle bays , was the aforementioned Waverider auxiliary craft , which was integrated into the " Nova " - class ' hull . Spanning decks 2 and 3 in front of the shuttlebay were the main cargo bay s which could also contained CMU s , used for transportation and repair purposes . Additionally , like a majority of starships in the 24th century , " Nova " - classes were equipped with emergency escape pod s , twenty in total ; fourteen were located on deck 3 , four on deck 1 and two on deck 2 , all located in the saucer section . They were stored under hatches to permit both launch and retrieval . Crew quarters . Due to the size of this class , crew quarters were spartan , but provided all the standard needs for the crew . A majority of the quarters were standard crew quarters , though a number of them were larger for use by the senior staff . The majority of these larger quarters were located on decks 1 and 4 , with slightly smaller ones located on decks 2 and 6 . Appendices . Background information . This class , specifically the " Equinox " in " Equinox " , was described in the script as " " a science vessel , sleek and sophisticated " " . According to " " , the " Nova " - class is the successor of the starship as the next primary explorer ship of Starfleet . Four different concept designs were presented on pages 177 and 178 . The direction the actual " Nova " - class eventually followed was the down - sized ship with less internal volume that allowed each ship to be refitted for specific mission types and an angular - curvilinear shape designed to allow an enhanced utilization of warp energy . One of the other designs that was not followed featured variable geometry pylon s that ended up to be featured on the . Another design featured an elliptical saucer section extended steeply toward port and starboard , a shape intended to enhance the peak transitional efficiency of a high - frequency warp envelope . This feature was eventually featured on the . It was also stated that the might end up being of this class , and a line in the of seems to support this , but a ship of the was given the name . ( ; ; ) According to the " " , the ship was equipped with only two cargo management units and two shuttlecraft . The phaser arrays were classified as type X , the same as the " Galaxy " - class and " Intrepid " - class phasers . The ship had a mass of 110 , 000 metric tonnes . For further information on the studio model s , see : " Nova " - class model . Apocrypha . In the game " Star Trek Online " the " Nova " - class is one of the first available science vessel s for Starfleet players to captain . An upgraded version patterned after the is also made available , and the " Rhode Island " herself is commanded by an elder Harry Kim .