star trek ship fan designs

Welcome to www.asdb.net, the home of the Advanced Starship Design Bureau.

We are a group of designers, layout artists, and graphics artists who are hoping to use this site to offer our interpretation of the starships and technologies seen on the Star Trek television series. To this end we publish a number of technical-oriented documents.

Comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Enjoy!

Starfleet ships

@ startrekships / startrekships.tumblr.com

USS Enterprise-A (NCC-1701-A) by Graham TG

Andrew Probert's U.S.S. Ambassador, modeled by Tobias Richter

Enterprise G MSD by SuricataFX , hi-res

Love the BSG raptor and DeLorean in the shuttlebay!

1966 and 2019

The Enterprise-F at Frontier Day, "Vox"

Breen concept by John Eaves

Assault on the Qu'Vat colony "Divergence"

Daedalus model by Fabio Passaro

Sovereign/Luna mashup by Oliver Lavery-Farag

Close ups of her saucer damage from Star Trek: Generations, the resurrected Enterprise-D from Star Trek: Picard. From RommelVFX .

Stargazer concept sketches by John Eaves

Now this is starship-porn if I’ve ever seen it

3:37 of my life very well-spent

Not available on Vimeo anymore, but here is the Youtube link:

I’m curious…

Please reblog for bigger sample size

Got any Sydney class treats for us:?

https://startrekships.tumblr.com/tagged/Sydney

(Mostly) Restored Enterprise D for Picard s3 via John Eaves

ILM shooting model of the Phoenix via John Eaves

Happy First Contact Day!

The Phoenix by John Eaves

Starship Database

Earth & Federation Major Aliens Various Aliens Anomalous Starships Animated Abramsverse Discoverse

The database lists all canon starships and other spaceborne constructions of the Star Trek Universe by races and classes. Schematic side views and technical specs are included where available. The data is mainly based on the very episodes and on official sources. In some cases, however, obvious errors had to be corrected. Inconsistencies or oddities are discussed in the annotations. Read more about the database structure .

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Pages with Recent Changes

• Lower Decks Alien Ship Classes 01 Jun 2024
• Discovery Future Federation Ship Classes 01 Jun 2024
• Discovery Future Alien Ship Classes 31 May 2024
• Discovery Mirror Universe Ship Classes 31 May 2024
• Discoverse Alien Ship Classes 31 May 2024
• Romulan Ship Classes 31 May 2024
• Starfleet Ship Classes L-Z 11 May 2024
• Xindi Ship Classes 05 May 2024
• Earth Ship Classes 05 May 2024
• Mirror Universe Ships 05 May 2024
• Federation Shuttlecraft 05 May 2024
• Space-Dwelling Lifeforms 05 May 2024
• Federation Ground Transportation 05 May 2024
• Non-Existent Ships 05 May 2024
• Discoverse Klingon Ship Classes 05 May 2024
• Borg Ship Classes 05 May 2024
• Bajoran Ship Classes 05 May 2024
• Ancient or Mysterious Ships 05 May 2024
• Starfleet Ship Classes A-K 20 Apr 2024
• Delta Quadrant Ships of Unknown Affiliation 10 Apr 2024

Structure of the Starship Database

Fleet Charts

Starship Articles

Starship Gallery

Earth & Federation

Starfleet Ship Classes A-K

Starfleet Ship Classes L-Z

Other Starfleet Ship Classes - uncertain and unknown

Civilian Federation Ship Classes

Federation Shuttlecraft - and other small auxiliary vehicles

Federation Probes - unmanned space vehicles

Federation Space Stations - fixed spaceborne installations

Federation Ground Transportation - bound to the ground

Earth Ship Classes - Pre-Federation (prior to 2161)

Future Ship Classes - of the 26th century and beyond

Major Aliens

Vulcan Ship Classes - Pre-Federation (prior to 2161)

Klingon Ship Classes - from all eras

Romulan Ship Classes - from all eras

Ferengi Ship Classes - from all eras

Cardassian Ship Classes

Bajoran Ship Classes

Dominion and Allied Ship Classes

Borg Ship Classes

Suliban Ship Classes

Xindi Ship Classes

Various Aliens

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships A-E

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships F-K

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships L-R

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships S-Z

Alpha and Beta Quadrant Ships of Unknown Affiliation

Gamma Quadrant Ships

Delta Quadrant Ships A-E

Delta Quadrant Ships F-K

Delta Quadrant Ships L-R

Delta Quadrant Ships S-Z

Delta Quadrant Ships of Unknown Affiliation

Anomalous Starships

Ancient or Mysterious Ships - whose owners don't show up

Space-Dwelling Lifeforms - organic or conscious vessels

Mirror Universe Ships - from TOS, DS9 and ENT

Confederation Timeline Ships - from PIC season 2

Non-Existent Ships - that were made up for varying reasons

Animated Star Trek

TAS Starfleet & Federation Ship Classes

TAS Alien Ship Classes

Prodigy Starfleet & Federation Ship Classes

Prodigy Alien Ship Classes

Abramsverse

Abramsverse Federation Ship Classes

Abramsverse Alien Ship Classes

Discoverse Federation Ship Classes - 23rd century, from DIS and SNW

Discoverse Klingon Ship Classes - 23rd century, from DIS and SNW

Many of the images in this section are taken from official sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia II , the Star Trek Encyclopedia (2016) the DS9 Technical Manual , the Star Trek Fact Files , Star Trek: The Magazine or the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection . Note that some of these were cleaned up and obvious errors were corrected. A number of schematics (namely Academy trainer craft, Antares NCC-501, Archer's model, Birdseye, Bonaventure from the Chronology , Centaur, Cheyenne, Constitution original, Excelsior variant 1, "Star Trek (2009)" shuttle, Mars defense perimeter, New Orleans, Ptolemy, Saladin, Springfield, Sydney, Raven, Talarian ships and variants, Tamarian ship and variants, Tosk ship and several TAS ships) are copyright of Ex Astris Scientia.

Special thanks go to Mike Swantak for the Ambassador, to Tim Davies for the Excelsiors, to Gus for the "Star Trek (2009)" Enterprise, to Sean Thornton for the Enterprise-A (alt.), to Pundus for the Odyssey, to MadMan and The-Didact for two versions of the Vengeance, to Chris G. for the "Star Trek (2009)" Spacedock, Klingon "Warbird" (models by MadMan), Whale Probe, "Nemesis" drydock (mesh by S-Stephen), TMP drydock (mesh by Prologic9), McKinley drydock (mesh by Eric Peterson), Warp Five Complex (mesh by Beda of Borg) and several images from Lower Decks, to Dávid Metlesits for the Klingon DIS ships (rendered based on models from Star Trek Adversaries), to Dave Combe for the DIS BoP and Sarcophagus ship, to C.HellenBrandt for the D'Arsay archive, Farpoint lifeform, interface probe, Melkotian buoy, ultraviolet satellite, standard D5, the "Star Trek (2009)" escape pod, forklift and more, to Ryan Church for Kirk's motorbike concept art, the Breen ship and the Klingon Augment ship, to Tobias Richter who created the USS Kelvin mesh, to James Chung for Picard concept art, to Daniel Petri for the reconstructed Aurora and the Class J from TOS-R, to Kristian Trigwell for Nomad, DY-100, DY-500, Valiant, Utopia Planitia, TAS personal spacecraft and some emblems, to Chris Spinnler for the Challenger, to Masaki Taniko who modified the Constitution refit, Miranda, Nebula variants, Curry and "Raging Queen", to Robert Bonchune for posting the official Intrepid-type, Delta ship and Kumari renders and who created many renders for recent official publications, to Doug Drexler for posting renders by several CGI artists such as Robert Bonchune, including the "Emmette", NX-Alpha, Arctic One, Arctic One Borgified, three-fingered drydock, multispatial probe, all Vulcan CGI ships, Cardassian workbee, 22nd century Ferengi ship, Nausicaan raider, all Suliban ships, Arkonian warship, Kreetassan ship, Kago Darr's shuttle, Malurian ship, Takret ship, Tandaran patrol ship, Valakian ship, Xantoran patrol ship, "Crossing" alien ship, Reptohumanoid ship and variants, Ledosian ships, Markonian outpost, Venatic, "Alice", "Silent Enemy" ship & shuttle and "Dead Stop" station, to John Eaves for the "Communicator" fighter, the Triannon vessel, the "Extinction" vessel, Xindi-Insectoid vessel 2 and the Axanar combat ship, to Irishman for drawings of Earth Starfleet ships, to Sven Lindemann for intermediate images, to Harry for parts of the early spaceship I, to Thorsten Junk for the Reman shuttle, to Raul Quiles who provided the Shuttlepod 1 and inspection pod schematics, to Kris Olinger who modified the Challenger, to Graham Kennedy for cleaning up and coloring the Starfleet probes, to Masao Okazaki for drawing the Daedalus, Bonaventure, Huron and TAS cargo drone, to Simon Golding for intermediate images, to E. Jakobsson for the Yeager and Elkins, to Jeff Russell for V'ger, to David Matteson for the NX-02 emblem, to viperaviator for the Franklin emblem, to Tobias Weimann for a couple of emblems, to Animaniac for the 22nd century Tholian ship and finally to Alice Orbán for subspace amplifier, Cardassian escape pod, Enolian vessels, Kobali shuttle, Malcorian ship, Malon freighter 2, Malurian shuttle, Mazarite shuttle & variants, Sikarian ship, Tarkalean freighter, Tellarite shuttle, Tsunkatse ship, Vissian ships, some of the Xindi ships, and several more.

Jörg Hillebrand has provided innumerable screen caps and invaluable observations. Most other screen caps are from TrekCore , Ariane's Star Trek Gallery , Cygnus-X1.net , Neutral Zone Starship Database or The Guardian of Forever. The photo of the Miranda-class USS Trial is courtesy of Larry Nemecek. Some images are based on Jim Stevenson's Starship Schematics . A reliable list of all canon starship appearances can be found in D. Joseph Creighton's The STArchive from where I extracted some useful data. Several facts about TAS ships came from Curt Danhauser's Guide to Animated Star Trek . I would also like to acknowledge The Unofficial Star Trek Fact Files Index, TrekMovie.com , Sector 0-0-1, Pedro's Shiporama, Frank Gerratana's Starfleet Ship Designs, Steve Pugh's Vessels of Starfleet, Adam Brooks , Adam Buckner, AJ, Alex Köhnen , Alexander Hartmann , Ambassador, Andrew Halliday, Andros, Andy Kinnear, B. J. Olejnik, Bounty, Brendan Stone , Brian Hunter, cardinal biggles, Colin , Dan Carlson , Daniel Anderson, DAS, doubleofive , Ed Bailey, Erich Mohr , Erik Filean, Florian Ollivier , Frank Bitterhof , George Nicolaides, Greg , Gvsualan , Harry , J , Jeff W, Jake Stotsky, Jason Schmus , Jim Morrissey , Jimmie R. Giboney, Jochen Gnida, John Mesiavech, Kevin , Kratisto, Lee McDonald , Lennier , Lester , Maik Leon Ehnert, Mariner Class, Mark Gill, Micah Haber, Michael Lanzinger, Mike , moreorlesser, Muchu, Paragon, Paul Doize, psycopunkn , Ralph Spitzner, Raymond J Impastato Jr, Rick , Rob Minnes, Robert, Scott Fletcher , Sol System, Stacy Smith, Stefan Posner, Stefan Rypalla , Stephen L. , Tadeo D'Oria, Thomas Owens , Thorsten , Trolleybus and Tuskin38 for ship pictures and information. Several more people helped me through their comments in the Flare Sci-Fi Forums . My special thanks to Colin and Boris S. who have provided lots of little-known information. Last but not least, special thanks to Michael Chabon and Dave Blass for sharing some information from behind the screen with us.

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/starship_database.htm

Last modified: 08 Jun 2024

© Ex Astris Scientia 1998-2024, Legal Terms

This website is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with CBS Studios Inc. or the Star Trek franchise.

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Star Trek Fan Design Ships 3D Models

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Published Jul 11, 2010

Design Your Own Starship

Admit it: you’ve always wanted to design and captain your own starship.  Well, now you’ve got your chance.  Further broadening the horizons of the massively multiplayer online PC title Star Trek Online, Star Trek Online Architect provides players with the necessary virtual tools to recreate their favorite Star Trek ships or to create their own, customized, one-of-a-kind ship that they can boldly pilot across the gaming universe.  Additionally, STO Architect includes a mini-game called Ship Shaper , a gallery that enables fans to view their unique creations, and an Intel-sponsored sweepstakes with such prizes as a replica captain’s chair, Intel(R) Core TM i7-920 Processors and copies of the Star Trek Online game. For more details, visit www.startrekonline.com .

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• Space Exploration

Star Trek: 10 Design Secrets Behind Iconic Ships

Did you know that the Enterprise was almost upside-down?

With the possible exception of Star Wars, no other popular-culture franchise has produced as iconic a selection of fictional spacecraft as Star Trek. Today the Enterprise is a household name, a ship that is arguably the face of science-fiction and one that even those who despise sci-fi will grudgingly admit to recognizing.

But the Enterprise is not alone: for multiple generations of fans names like Voyager, Defiant and Deep Space 9, are synonymous with the ideals of honor, integrity and courage, and the promise of a better world.

But how did these iconic ships come to be and why do they look the way they do? Here we take a deep dive into the stories behind their creation, to reveal the thinking behind their design, the influences that shaped them, and how close iconic favourites came to being completely different.

Time to boldly go (sorry, had to do it) behind the scenes and discover the design secrets behind 10 of Star Trek’s most iconic spacecraft.

Sadly some iconic spacecraft, like the Borg Cube and species 8472 Bio-ship, did not make the list, not because they aren’t iconic, but because sufficiently in-depth information was unavailable.

10. Sh’Raan

Though the Vulcans are one of Star Trek’s most significant races, before Star Trek: Enterprise they had precious few ship designs to their name. The Suurok-class Sh’Raan , the first appearance of a major Vulcan ship in the franchise, thus presented a daunting challenge for designer Doug Drexler.

Drexler’s primary goal was for the spacecraft to pass the ‘squint-test,’ that is, be instantly recognisable even when tiny on screen. Recalling that the Vulcan ships in The Next Generation episode Unification II sported a rough ring-like shape, Drexler felt that this merited reviving the ‘ring-ship’ concept put forward for the original Enterprise.

Drexler then modified the ‘ring-ship’ – twin rings around a long, narrow core – to be more Vulcan by introducing curves and peaks inspired by the Vulcan temple and clothing seen in Star Trek III . Blending this with the reddish colouration of the T’Plana-Hath – the Vulcan craft that appears in F irst contact – Drexler arrived at the Sh’Raan’s sleek design.

The finishing touch was added when Drexler and the producers decided that the craft should be supported by, rather than hanging from, its central spar, a move Drexler felt defied convention and made “the Vulcans look like they control powers beyond Human ken .” With this decision the external engines being experimented with were dropped and the design approved.

Marcellus Huisamen hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.

Star Trek: 5 Best Ship Designs (& 5 Worst Ship Designs)

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Orphan Black: Echoes Falls Victim to a Frustratingly Familiar Problem

Why better call saul never won an emmy, 10 best period drama shows of the last 5 years, ranked.

Star Trek wasn't the first time science fiction had been put on TV but it's one of the best. The original series was groundbreaking in so many ways; it was allegorical and cerebral at times but still full of camp and action. It's become a sci-fi powerhouse, with seven spin-off shows and ten motion pictures, and counting.

RELATED: 10 Strongest Star Trek Ships, Ranked

One of the things fans love the most about Star Trek is the ship designs. The show started a revolution in ship design, one that would establish an aesthetic that fans can still see. Some of those designs are amazing, but others not so much. What are the best Star Trek ship designs? Which are the worst?

10 Best: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701

Nothing beats a classic, and the original Enterprise is definitely a classic. It changed the way people looked at science fiction starships. Back then, it was all rockets and saucers and while the Enterprise had design elements reminiscent of both of those, it combined them all.

It presented something that was both familiar and wildly different. Looking back, there are a few design elements that aren't great — the thin booms connecting everything for one — but the ship started a revolution and is still one of the coolest sci-fi starships ever.

9 Worst: Romulan Bird Of Prey

Introduced during the original series of Star Trek, the Romulan Bird of Prey came from the fan-favorite episode "Balance Of Terror" . Equipped with a cloaking device and powerful plasma torpedoes, it played a deadly game of cat and mouse with the Enterprise .

The problem with the design is that it's bland. The only thing that really stands out about it is the painted bird on the bottom and that looks kind of ridiculous nowadays, sort of like a space Trans Am. Great episode, bad ship design.

8 Best: Jem'Hadar Fighter

Debuting in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , the Jem'Hadar Fighter was the main ship of the Dominion, the alien empire that would become the show's big bad. Built-up to be nearly invincible, Jem'Hadar fighters were quick and powerful, armed with weapons that made mock of Starfleet vessels' shielding.

RELATED: Every Star Trek Season Of TV Ever, Ranked From Best To Worst

It also looked great. There was something insectile about the design, which fit the way it would be used in the fleet battles later in the series where it would swarm its targets. The purple coloring was different than just about anything seen before and made it stand out.

7 Worst: Borg Cube

The Borg Cube fits the aesthetic of the Borg perfectly. Every face of the Cube is full of weapons and tractor beams, allowing it to assault enemy vessels coming in at any vector. The ships are fantastically durable. Everything about them screams utilitarian, setting the Borg apart from what fans were used to from a Star Trek ship.

The problem comes in that for the viewer, there's nothing very interesting about the design itself. It's a giant cube and it looks like it's made up of scaffolding. While it says a lot about the Borg (which is honestly very cool), there's not much to look at.

6 Best: U.S.S. Defiant NX-74205

The Defiant was designed for one purpose: battle. Created to be the first vessel of a new class meant to combat the Borg, the vessel was overpowered, packed down with weapons, and extremely durable. Brought to Deep Space Nine to help combat the Dominion threat, the Defiant is also a very distinct ship.

It eschews a lot of the design aesthetics that fans became used to from Star Trek ships. The design was solid; it looks like it could take a lot of hits and keep going. The way the warp nacelles jut out of the ship like broad shoulders, giving the ship a muscular feel. It's a great-looking ship that fans fell in love with.

5 Worst: D-7 Romulan/Klingon Battle Cruiser

The D-7 was introduced in the original Star Trek series and was used by both the Romulans and the Klingons. It was definitely a unique design, unlike anything fans had seen before, but that doesn't mean it's a good design. The problem comes from the long boom that connects the bow to the aft section of the ship.

It looks remarkably flimsy and all but cries out to get targeted. It's a strange design choice for a ship that is designed to fight. One can excuse Starfleet vessels having these design elements because they aren't made for fighting but seeing as the Romulans and Klingons both used this class for battle, it makes no sense.

4 Best: Klingon Bird Of Prey

The Klingon Bird Of Prey is one of the best ship designs not just in Star Trek but in all of sci-fi. First off, it looks like a bird of prey, down to the armor plating on the wings looking like feathers. Its green coloring makes it stand out. It just looks tough- even the connecting boom looks like it can take hits.

RELATED: Star Trek: The 10 Best Starfleet Uniforms, Ranked

The Bird Of Prey is a utilitarian design that looks great; it's meant to race in, blow stuff up, and get out. It's one of those rare sci-fi ship designs that is just perfect.

3 Worst: The Breen Warship

The Breen were introduced in Deep Space Nine . They all looked sort of like tall versions of Leia disguised as a bounty hunter in Return Of The Jedi. They joined up with the Dominion towards the end of the war between the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant allies and their ships were something else.

There's something very slapdash about the ship's design. It's certainly interesting but not in a good way; it looks like someone welded a bunch of disparate sections together.

2 Best: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D

The Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation , the Enterprise-D,  is a Galaxy- class starship. It was the flagship of Starfleet and the most technologically advanced ship in the fleet. It was the Enterprise of a whole new generation (hence the show's name) and it is still the most beautiful ship in sci-fi.

It incorporated design elements from the original Enterprise but was curvier. The hull flowed and the ship's smooth lines played a huge part in just how good the ship looked. There will never be anything like it again.

1 Worst: Romulan Warbird

The Romulans just can't catch a break when it comes to ship designs. The D'deridex- class Warbird is a big ship that looks intimidating at first. The bow resembles a massive bird's head, one that has a taste for flesh and the green hull has a sickly, evil feel to it.

However, it's kind of a nonsensical design. The bow is the only part of the ship that looks like it could take a hit. The ventral and dorsal sections look thin and flimsy and the placing of the warp engines makes them perfect targets. It definitely looks like something called a Warbird, but it doesn't look good.

NEXT: Star Trek: 10 Best Q Episodes In The Series, Ranked

I have been a fan of science fiction for more than thirty years, since my parents introduced me to Star Wars some time in 1991. Since then, I’ve become obsessed to varying degrees with many shows including Star Trek , Babylon 5 , Battlestar Galactica , The Expanse , and many others. Generally, I don’t buy into most of the incessant crossover debates that frequently rage on certain sci-fi message boards. Rather than waste time proving that the Imperial Star Destroyer can blast Kirk’s Enterprise into molten slag, I prefer to enjoy each story based on the merits of its own setting and plot. Since the entire technological background is fictional anyway, the writers can simply make up any quasi-scientific principles that they wish for the sake of the plot.

Although I’m not that interested in the technological comparisons between series, I’ve occasionally wondered about how a certain starship would compare in size to those of another series. When Farscape ’s John Crichton first saw Moya , he exclaimed, “That’s big.... really big.” The question is, just how big is “big”? So I started to gather a list of the sizes of various science fiction ships. There are plenty of fans out there who have worked up all kinds of comparison charts on their own. But the one thing that very few of those charts has ever done is to include non-canon fan designs alongside the original canon starships. I decided to create one all-encompassing chart that would include many (if not quite all) of the Star Trek ships that are out there. The charts available below include those created by the Advanced Starship Design Bureau , Masao Okazaki at the Starfleet Museum , and Star Trek: Renaissance , the fan fiction series of which I was once a part.

I originally started these charts as a side project , to fulfill my own curiosity for how the ships stacked up. But they’ve become one of the most popular resources on Star Trek Minutiae, and I’ve even found copies of them floating around elsewhere on the web. So, here’s the original cross-sci-fi starship reference!

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Idle Stats as of 2022-06-17: 945 ships and space stations total, 607 from Star Trek (including 86 non-canon designs)

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The Bajoran capital city in shambles after the Cardassian withdrawal in 2369

The Occupation of Bajor , usually referred to simply as the Occupation , was a period from about 2319 to 2369 during which Bajor was under the control of the Cardassian Union. During the Occupation, the Cardassians perpetrated a coordinated scheme of strip-mining, forced labor, and genocide across the planet. Their brutality led to the deaths of more than ten million Bajorans. This eventually gave rise to the fierce Bajoran Resistance, which used guerrilla and terror tactics. The Cardassians eventually withdrew due to political pressure from the United Federation of Planets, as well as the Resistance's constant attacks.

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