Since the debut of the USS Enterprise in 1966, Matt Jeffries design became the template that every designer has helped to expand upon since, giving Star Trek it’s own unique and easily identifiable style linking everything from the Enterprise-D to Discover for decades.
Since then several designers have been hired to bring new iconic ships to Star Trek, including Andrew Probert, Rick Sternbach and Kelvin Timeline designer Ryan Church. However, while most ships were built in house for their productions, not every ship we’ve seen on screen began it’s life in a production office nor in any official capacity.
Jeffries’ original work has inspired fans across the world to come up with their own versions of what a ship may look like, with groups, portfolio’s and even competitions filled with fan-made starships. Expanded media has also added to the ‘fanon’ collective, from a Federation built Deep Space Nine and Captain Ezri Dax’s USS Aventine’s unique design.
Of course, the rules are if it’s not on screen then it doesn’t count; a rule that has irked some fans, especially with the novels written over the years being over-written by Star Trek Picard. Though sometimes, just sometimes, those unofficial non-canon works slip into the Star Trek Universe.
Looking at the few that have made it, we’ve picked a few favourites to highlight.
USS Titan / Luna Class
The winning entry to a reader competition for Titan Books, the Luna Class is one of the most popular ships to transition into the canonised world of Trek. First appearing on the cover of 2007’s Sword of Damocles novel, the Luna Class Titan would become designer Sean Tourangeau‘s entry into the Star Trek world and proved to be a popular ship.
Starring front and centre in a series of books about Will Riker’s first command, the USS Titan would be released as a physical model by Eaglemoss by popular demand as well the Luna Class being added the roster of playable ships in Star Trek Online. Lower Decks would make it the official USS Titan as Riker and his ship became a story point with Boimler transferring under Riker’s command while the Luna class would make it’s first live action appearance as part of the fleet in Picard Season 3.
While the original USS Titan was retired by that point in time, it was replaced by another fan-inspired design...
Eleos
Including the Eleos might be a bit of a cheat. But it’s a valid one. In 2006 Perpetual Entertainment began a project to bring Star Trek into the MMO world which would include hiring seasoned designers to pitch new starship ideas for their Star Trek Online concept. Of course, that project closed and Cryptic took over, leading to the state of the game today and those early concepts being largely abandoned.
One concept, the Pheonix, by artist John Eaves ended up getting a second chance years later. As Picard Season 3 production began, the Pheonix was retooled and refined with extra detail and a more civilian layout. While not the first piece of artwork Eaves had been able to finally bring to life the Eleos was a unique and interesting design that fit in well as Beverly Crushers civilian ship.
Gagarin Class
For fourteen years now the world of Star Trek Online has let it’s players captain their own starships from both canon and in-house designs produced for the game. While some have been distinctly horrific to look at, in recent years the designs and styles have improved massively with some of the best being 25th century redesigns of existing starships.
Thanks to the collaboration between Picard’s art department and the STO Development team, quite a few of their original designs were used to flesh out the fleet through the series, with one of the favourites being the Gagarin. Based on the Shepard class first seen at the Battle of the Binary Stars, the Gagarin updated the look with more modern parts and STO’s traditional bulky bussard collectors and white-fleet livery. Alongside other designs, including the Pathfinder, the Gagarin fit right in to the fleet seen at the climatic final battle of Picard’s third season.
Olympic Class
One of the more unique looking Starships in the TNG era, the Pasteur also had a unique history behind the scenes. Designed and built by Bill George, the model was the only Starfleet ship to be an outside hire. Having previously worked in Star Trek, helping to design the long serving Excelsior class, George built the Pasteur at home as his own side project while offering the art department on TNG the chance to use it.
Much like his approach to the Excelsior, George took a ‘what if?’ approach, looking back at some original sketches by Matt Jeffries from the 60’s and wondering how it would look in a late 24th century setting if the sphere of (whats now known as) the Daedalus class was kept as a Starfleet design feature. While it wasn’t an official ship design or commission, nor even close to the description of the Pasteur in the script, producer Peter Lauriston rented out the model to be included in TNG finale All Good Things.
Odyssey / USS Enterprise-F
Perhaps having the strangest history of any Enterprise, the Odyssey class came to life during a contest from Star Trek Online to design the next iteration of the legendary vessel. The winning entry was from fan and player Adam Ihle before being refined by the production team for the game before it’s debut in 2012.
As star Trek Online’s flasgship, the Odyssey Class originally came in three variants each with unique consoles that could be used solo or in bulk; one console for saucer separation, one for healing during battle and a tactical variant that dispatched a small defence craft from the rear of the engineering hull. Since it’s initial launch the designs has went through several revisions over the years, with the Yorktown variant being added as the Enterprise-F’s current look which was again modified and updated to coincide with Picard Season 3.
While it was only on screen briefly during the final episodes of Picard, and upstaged by a rebuild predecessor, the Enterprise-F may have a different history than the version seen in STO, though after years of teasing with comic book appearances the production finally canonised the ship as part of Star Trek history.
You can get an in depth look at both the STO and Picard Versions of the design at designer Thomas Marrone’s Artstation Portfolio.
About the author
Mark Mitchell; 1969-2026
It's with great sadness we report that our Director of Operations, Mark Mitchell, has sadly passed away suddenly earlier this week. Mark was one of our longest serving members and a huge part of what helped shape what SFCQ2 is today. Having served in leadership as a CO, throughout fleet support and originating the role of Director of Administration, Mark's unyielding dedication to the club and his multiple contributions over the decades undoubtedly make him worthy of his Legend handle. From writing the entire base for our modern Academy to being vital in the fleet restructure, to offering support and advice to countless members to support leadership and direction, Mark's efforts serve, and will likely continue to serve, as the backbone of everything that makes Q2 with his primary goal always being to offer the best of everything and push […]
Gamma Quarter 2403 Promotions & Citations
Throughout it’s entire existence SFC has grown, evolved and thrived due tot he commitment and passion of our officers and crew. Keen members can make a huge difference within their unit or the fleet as a whole, and we like to ensure members are rewarded and recognised for all they bring to the organisation. Starting this quarter, we're opening every new period within the fleet celebrating those who have made an impact and engaged in being a positive influence in their unit or in Q2 overall. The most obvious form of rewards comes from our naval-based rank structure. Utilising the same base rank structure seen on screen, SFC takes members through their journey as a Starfleet officer by giving members a chance to rise throughout the ranks from Ensign to Captain. Having had an active and exciting year, Lt Commander […]
A Fistful of ‘Spirk’
We've been spoiled with Spock in the past few years with Discovery introducing a younger iteration of the character long before he became the refined man of logic that made him famous, and continued that story through Strange New Worlds and his time under Captain Pike's command. As Strange New Worlds continues, giving more history to the original series line up and the early meetings of Spock and Kirk as it makes way for the beginning of the Kirk era, we thought we'd look back at some moments that made the partnership one of the most popular combinations in science fiction. JOURNEY TO BABEL TOS Season 2 Spock's got a bit of an issue with sharing. Secret brother who was shunned. Secret sister who's fate was classified. And despite trusting the Enterprise crew with his life, it was clearly only […]
Site & Service Updates July 2026
It's been a strange year as we adapt to then changing landscape of the Star Trek franchise with recent corporate shenanigans in the media industry, as well as adjusting to and anticipating new regulation sin our home base of the UK which has taken up more brain power than we'd expected!Still, despite distractions, we've been working away in the background with a revised Admin schedule to ensure at the very least every Sunday we can check off some items on the to do list and keep everyone updated on the changes whether minor, major or a bit pointless! On Screen Additions After being placed on the low priority list for a while, the On Screen Mission Log section has begun taking shape. Previously the On Screen section had it's own section per show since the launch of Discovery, however with […]
New Unit Application Guide
Account Academy Database Fleet Updates Calendar Latest Entries Explore Database Index Starfleet Academy Help & Support ⯇ DATABASE INDEX ACCOUNT HUB NEw Unit Application Guide Clarification This section is both for information and for making formal applications for creating or importing a new unit into SFCQ2. Applications can also be made directly to Fleet Administration. All applications are considered for review. × JOIN THE CAPTAINS TABLE Every Star Trek fans dreams of being the captain of their own Starship. Although running an SFC Quadrant 2 Unit is (probably) easier than commanding a starship, both roles require commitment and dedication.Unit’s are, and always will be, the core of SFC. It is within them that members can indulge in their shared interests for Star Trek and science fiction while enjoying the company of fellow fans and like minded people. At their best, […]
[Q2&A] Membership Handbook: Revised & Updated for 2026
With over fifty years (and counting) of history, joining SFC can sometimes be a whirlwind and while we're always focused on a more casual experience, tit can sometimes be overwhelming knowing where to start. While we offer our Academy as an induction tour of Quadrant 2's organisation and structure, and are always open to expanding more information in the Fleet Database, our Officers Pack gives you a one stop resource to highlight our core policies, membership information and more; The Membership Handbook/ Membership within Q2 is fairly laid back. But since it's inception - both overall as Starfleet Command as well as the administrative split for Quadrant 2 - out handbook has outlined who we are, how we operate and as a resource for members to be able to understand what membership entails from our core mission statement, to our […]
Related
A Fistful of ‘Spirk’
We've been spoiled with Spock in the past few years with Discovery introducing a younger iteration of the character long before he became the refined man of logic that made him famous, and continued that story through Strange New Worlds and his time under Captain Pike's command. As Strange New Worlds continues, giving more history to the original series line up and the early meetings of Spock and Kirk as it makes way for the beginning of the Kirk era, we thought we'd look back at some moments that made the partnership one of the most popular combinations in science fiction. JOURNEY TO BABEL TOS Season 2 Spock's got a bit of an issue with sharing. Secret brother who was shunned. Secret sister who's fate was classified. And despite trusting the Enterprise crew with his life, it was clearly only […]
A Fistful of O’Brien
Entering the Star Trek world as an unnamed extra with a few bits of dialogue, O'Brien soon became a fixture on the Enterprise D as it's transporter chief before moving to Deep Space Nine to head up engineering and operations on what was thought to be a backwater outpost before it became one of the most strategically important stations in the quadrant!As the only enlisted or non commissioned officer to feature in the main cast of any Star Trek show to date, O'Brien stands as the only working class hero in the Star Trek universe with a vast and varied career taking from the front lines of the Cardassian war as a soldier, to the front lines of the Dominion War as an engineer, retrofitting DS9, keeping the Defiant from blowing itself apart, and even sniping Dominion troops. All in […]
A Fistful of Justice
Although it's one of the worlds most legendary science fiction shows, Star Trek has always dabbled with format and genre's, all dressed up behind deep space adventures. Whether using the holodeck for a touch of fantasy, or diving into the horrors of war through Deep Space Nine's run, the variety of story telling never seems to fit one mould. But out of all the different tales told in the wonderful world of Starfleet, one that always promises to deliver is the court room drama. This month we're diving into the most captivating of Star Trek's courtroom drama's with a Fistful of Justice! AD ASTRA PER ASPERA Strange New Worlds, Season 2 One of the most modern examples of Strar Trek's court room drama saw Pike's own Number One, Una-Chin Reilly, under court martial for a serious breach of Starfleet regulation […]
A Fistful of Sisko
In the past few years, Star Trek has made several nods to it's past. But while The NExt Generation and Voyager had their continuations, Deep Space Nine continued to 'black sheep' of the family with it's history and name drops being few and far between. Until Academy when we had an entire episode based around the legend of Starfleet's most complex captains. Starting his show as a widower and single parent, Benjamin Sisko started his time in Star Trek as a reluctant hero turned religious icon who's become a prime figure in Bajoran history, the Federation-Dominion war and much more. If you missed his series, first of.... why?! And also, if you want a quick intro - here's our Sisko top five to see what the fuss is all about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzBkvzPoofQ IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT Season 6, Episode 13 Lets […]
A Fistful of Honour Beyond Bloodshed
Feared throughout the galaxy due to being fearless warriors who thrive on battle and bloodshed, the Klingon's are one of Star Trek's most iconic races and yet, with all their history, perhaps the most misunderstood. Starting off in the original series as authoritarian and distrustful antagonist, they were written as a parallel to Russia with the Klingon Empire in a cold war with the Federation following a long conflict. The Klingons would have a bit of reinvention in the movies thanks to higher budgets giving the producers a chance for a more alien look, while their culture and history would get a little more depth on The Next Generation thanks to the inclusion of Worf, the first Klingon member of Starfleet. But Worf's views on the Klingon culture weren't quite spot on. From a noble house, Worf was displaced and […]
A Fistful of Familiar Surroundings
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. President Forward During the Next Generation multiple set pieces were re-used and recycled from the set pieces built for the film franchise. From the obvious re-use of internal corridors, to smaller pieces such as Dr Crushers office being McCoy's, it's hard for a keen eye to ignore how much the productions shared between them. But as The Next Generation became the dominant forcer with ongoing production and full standing sets, eventually the turn tabled and by the final original cast instalment, it was the TNG stages that became the obvious redress solution. The most jarring of the films set re-uses was the office of the president. As Kirk and McCoy were charged with assassination, a political poop show begins and the Federation […]
