<P> USS Enterprise (NCC - 1701) is a starship in the fictional Star Trek universe, depicted in four network television series, six feature films, and countless books and fan - created media . The original Star Trek series (1966--1969) features a voice - over by Enterprise captain, James T. Kirk (William Shatner), which describes the mission of Enterprise as "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before". The ship's design "formed the basis for one of sci - fi's most memorable images," though the ship has gone over many changes over the course of its television and cinematic appearances . A refit version of NCC - 1701 appears in the first three Star Trek films . The 2009 Star Trek film, which takes place in an alternate timeline, features a re-conceptualization of the original Enterprise . The original (though refitted) starship was destroyed in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . </P> <P> Star Trek art director Matt Jefferies was the primary designer of the original Enterprise, which was originally named Yorktown in series creator Gene Roddenberry's first outline drafts of the series . Jefferies' experience with aviation led to his Enterprise designs being imbued with what he called "aircraft logic". </P> <P> The ship's "NCC - 1701" registry number stemmed from "NC" being one of the international aircraft registration codes assigned to the United States; the second "C" was added as Soviet aircraft used "CCCC" and Matt Jeffries combined the two as he believed a venture into space would be a joint operation by the United States and Russia . According to The Making of Star Trek, "NCC" is the Starfleet abbreviation for "Naval Construction Contract", comparable to what the U.S. Navy would call a hull number . The "1701" was chosen to avoid any possible ambiguity; according to Jefferies, the numbers 3, 6, 8, and 9 are "too easily confused". Other sources cite it as a reference to the house across the street from where Roddenberry grew up, while another account gives it as the street address of Linwood Dunn . Jefferies' own sketches provide the explanation that it was his 17th cruiser design with the first serial number of that series: 1701 . The Making of Star Trek explains that "USS" should mean "United Space Ship" and that "Enterprise is a member of the Starship Class". The ship's class was officially changed to Constitution Class with the release of the Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual in 1975, even though all previous references identify it as Starship Class . </P> <P> The first miniature built for the pilot episode "The Cage" (1965) was unlit and approximately 33 inches (0.8 m) long, commonly referred to as "the three foot model". This model was constructed almost entirely of wood and was made by Richard C. Datin in his shop . It was eventually modified during the course of the series to match the changes made to the larger model before and after shooting of the second pilot, and appears on - set in "Requiem for Methuselah" (1969) after some damage sustained in storage had been partially repaired . The second miniature built for the original pilot measures 11 feet 2 inches (3.4 m) long and was built by a small crew of model makers (Volmer Jensen, Mel Keys and Vernon Sion) supervised by Richard C. Datin, working out of Jensen's model shop in Burbank, California (although the larger base components were subcontracted to a shop with a large lathe). It was initially filmed by both Howard A. Anderson and Linwood G. Dunn at Dunn's Film Effects of Hollywood facility, who also re-filmed later more - elaborate models of the ship, generating a variety of stock footage that was used in later episodes . </P>

What does the ncc stand for on the starship enterprise