Starship class

The **starship class** was a classification system used by the Planetary Union and other civilizations that defined the different starship designs. The system was used for starships only, and not for other spacecraft such as shuttles, which were auxiliary craft used in support of starships, and pods. Vessels within each class were constructed with identical schematics and designed for specific purposes.

## Kaylon classes

Main article: Sphere

 ***Interceptor*-class** |  | These ships participated in the Battle of Earth. They supported the larger ships and often rammed into hostile vessels.

## Moclan classes

 ***Transport-*class** (Moclan)
 **Moclan Cruiser Season 2** |      | A massive vessel type about the size of a *Leviathan*-class heavy cruiser. Its firepower was stronger than that of an *Exploratory*-class A vessel.

## Other classes

 ***Transport*-class** (Horbalak)
 **Unnamed ship classes** (Calivon)
 **"Warship"-class** (Chak'tal)

## Production

Creator Seth MacFarlane devised the Exploratory class specifically for the Orville because the broad category allowed the writers to invent plotlines of almost any situation. According to Jeff Bond in the book *The World of the Orville*, the Leviathan-class build was modeled after the look of the Orville.

The spatial tensor coils, the signature rings of many ship classes, house their quantum drive systems. According to science consultant André Bormanis, a ship need only rely on one ring, but they cannot go as fast or as far.

The Fighter-class vessel was designed by digital effects supervisor Brandon Fayette, first as a 3D printed model and then as a digital rendering. Producers had an idea of the Fighter-class vessel as early as 2017 when the show was in production for Season 1, though the ship is never seen in that season. This is probably because the story of *Identity, Pt. 1* and *Identity, Pt. 2* was actually written in late 2016, and the ship features heavily in those episodes. A description was included in *The World of the Orville*, stating that the Fighter was tied with the Transporter as one of the smallest vessel types and that, unlike other vessel classes that are designed for peace-time purposes, the Fighter is built for combat.

## Trivia

* Digital effects supervisor Brandon Fayette has stated that the size of each class changed in Season 2, but exactly how each class grew or diminished is unknown.
* Gordon mentions a "Union evac vessel" that would be capable of rescuing 75 Nyxians, but it is unclear to which starship class he refers.
* The upgrades given to the Orville during its refit in early 2422 placed its quantum drive nearly on-par with that of a heavy cruiser.

## Mistakes

* According to Fayette, the relative scale of each class found in *The World of the Orville* is incorrect and should not be used to compare the sizes of ships against each other.
	+ Additionally, the book misprints the Cruiser class with three quantum rings when it in fact has two.

## Appearances

### "Battleship" Class

* *Episode 1.5x01: New Beginnings, Pt. 1*
* *Episode 1.5x02: New Beginnings, Pt. 2*

### Leviathan Class

A Leviathan-class vessel also appears in each episode in the opening credits.

* *Episode 1x01: Old Wounds*
* *Episode 1x06: Krill*
* *Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2*
* *Episode 3x01: Electric Sheep*

### Exploratory Class

#### Exploratory Class A

> *The USS* Orville *or other examples of this class* *is present in every episode.*
>
>

### Science Class

* *Episode 1x01: Old Wounds*
* *Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger*
* *Episode 1.5x02: New Beginnings, Pt. 2*
* *Episode 2x03: Home*
* *Episode 2x05: All the World is Birthday Cake*
* *Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2*
* *Episode 2.5x01: Launch Day, Pt. 1*
* *Episode 3x01: Electric Sheep*

### Transporter Class

* *Episode 1x02: Command Performance*
* *Episode 2x01: Ja'loja*
* *Episode 3x01: Electric Sheep*

### Colossus Class

Appearance in each episode in the opening credits.

### Marauder Class

* *Episode 2x04: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes*
* *Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2*

## Notes

1. ↑ The fact that captains typically command a Leviathan-class vessel is confirm by Admiral Halsey who says to Mercer that everyone thought Mercer would be captain of a heavy cruiser by age 40. Episode 1x01: Old Wounds

## References

1. ↑ Episode 1.5x01: New Beginnings, Pt. 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger
3. ↑ *Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Episode 3x01: Electric Sheep*
5. ↑ *Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2*
6. ↑ Crew size of the USS *Quimby* is stated by Charly Burke in *Electric Sheep*.
7. ↑ *Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2*
8. ↑ Episode 2x04: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes
9. ↑ Pascale, Anthony. "Interview: Seth MacFarlane Talks Mission Of ‘The Orville’ And Defends Star Trek: TNG’s Replicators". *TrekMovie.com*. Sept. 14, 2017.
10. ↑ "The Orville Fan Podcast “THINK”sgiving Episode w/ André Bormanis". Planetary Union Network. Nov. 21, 2017.
11. ↑ @megamanex. "My favorite design ever for #TheOrville. The Union Fighter. @TheOrville @TomCostantino @joncassar @Delaneleahy @Brooki\_eh @ScottGrimes @SethMacFarlane @DavidAGoodman @ChillyKillary". Twitter. March 1, 2019.
12. ↑ @megamanex. "Those scales have changed in this season. We also never made the science class just yet.". Twitter. March 25, 2019.
13. ↑ Episode 2x02: Primal Urges
14. ↑ @megamanex. "This whole sheet is incorrect at this point actually. The cruiser class is 2 quantum rings and the science class is still a no show.". Twitter. March 26, 2019.
15. ↑ @megamanex. "This whole sheet is incorrect at this point actually. The cruiser class is 2 quantum rings and the science class is still a no show.". Twitter. March 26, 2019.