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Star Trek Online Ships Made Canon by Picard Show

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Released back in 2011, Star Trek: Online is an online MMORPG developed by Cryptic Studios and based on the Star Trek franchise. The game is set 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis in the TNG storyline. Star Trek: Picard season 2 has finally premiered, and with it comes the benefits of a new canon for the series. With several new ships now being brought into the canon by the show, Star Trek: Online has started its own celebration for fans. In a tweet from the Star Trek Online official Twitter, it was announced that four original ships had become canon in the Star Trek: Picard season 2 premiere and to celebrate, there will be a sale on these ships in the game, among other things. A link in the tweet to the Arc Games website cites the ships as the Sutherland, Gagarin, Reliant, and Ross (Inquiry class) all original to the Star Trek Online. All ships were present in a shot of many starships in the premiere of season 2 of Star Trek: Picard in collaboration between the show and the game. The website's post also details the sale in the game to celebrate this. RELATED: Star Trek Online Players Celebrate Actor Christopher Plummer Further expanding the canon of Star Trek is a huge undertaking and definitely something worth celebrating. The franchise has such deep lore that continues in each series and beyond in the novels and graphic novels. Having original ships from the most notable Star Trek game out there is groundbreaking in acknowledging the legitimacy of at least a few parts of the MMORPG as a real piece of the Star Trek lore. Star Trek Online has been known as a pretty accessible MMO for newcomers and seasoned players alike with this news possibly bringing more new players to the game

For fans, this is humbling to see two parts of a well-loved franchise, coming together to deepen the television lore of the Star Trek franchise. The whole idea of Star Trek is about coming together in a brighter future where everyone lives to help one another, and this news is no different. The idea of the staff from both the Star Trek: Picard television show and the Star Trek Online game coming together to make this happen can only be a sign of more good things to come in the future for the game.

Star Trek: Picard has been panned in the past for not being fully faithful to Picard as a character, often seeming like the people behind the show hadn't even seen the original Star Trek: TNG series. With that opinion in mind, this move could be one from the showrunners trying to bring in the STO fanbase to have more eyes watching the show. That being said, Star Trek has always strived to make an impact , and this collaboration is no different

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Star Trek Online ships now canon after Picard Season 2 reveal

Number One, you have the bridge.

Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard is finally here and sharp-eyed Star Trek Online fans will have noticed a few familiar ships in the premiere episode. Arc Games confirmed that four Star Trek Online vessels are now canon, with a few more from the animated series Lower Decks.

To celebrate this news, Arc Games has some ships and a special Picard uniform on sale in-game from March 3, 8 am PT/ 11 am ET/ 4 pm GMT until March 10, 10 am PT/ 1 pm ET/ 6 pm GMT. Players will be able to get their hands on the new Inquiry class ship in the Lobi Store for the first time, costing 1200 Lobi. And there's more good news—you'll also get 20% off in the Lobi Store Sale, meaning it'll only set you back 960 Lobi.

The three Zen Store ships that are being canonised are the Gargarin, the Reliant and the Sutherland, which will all be on sale with 30% off. Finally, there's the Ross, which is part of Star Trek Online's 10th Anniversary 10 Ship Legendary Bundle, and the 2399 Picard Uniform.

It's great to see Star Trek Online involved in the main canon, particularly alongside Picard's story as we head into Season 2. Thomas Marrone and Hector Ortiz, Star Trek Online's Associate Art Director and Senior Concept Artist respectively, collaborated with the production team behind Picard to design the U.S.S. Stargazer, which is a Sagan-class vessel fitted with Borg technology, as confirmed by Cryptic. If that doesn't get you excited for Season 2, I don't know what will.

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STO Ships are Canon!

By Ambassador Kael | Thu 03 Mar 2022 07:30:00 AM PST

The Countdown to Canon is complete. As of this morning at midnight, four Star Trek Online ships have appeared in Star Trek Picard, officially making them canon vessels. And we want to celebrate with you. Look for a special video tomorrow documenting the process of these ships appearing on the show, but right now, get a chance to save on all of these ships, and grab the Inquiry for Lobi for the first time! All of these sales last from  March 3rd at 8am PT to March 10th at 10am PT .

Before we get into the nitty gritty of the individual sales, we want to take a moment to say thank you. This is a monumental moment for for the team of Star Trek Online. While we've had crossovers, brushes with canon, and even shoutouts before, this is the first time something explicitly made for our game has crossed over and officially become part of canon on a Star Trek TV show. It's an overwhelming and exciting feeling, and the reason we got here is because of you. STO's Captains have supported us for twelve years, helping us to tell stories of the Final Frontier in an era that, until very recently, had never been touched. Without you, none of this could have happened. Thank you so much.

First of all, the Inquiry Class is flying out of the Infinity Research and Development packs and into the Lobi Store for the first time! She'll be available for 1200 Lobi for the entirety of this special event. But that's not all - during this week-long celebration, we're also doing a 20% Lobi Store Sale! That means you can grab the Inquiry for 960 Lobi, along with saving on anything in the store your heart desires.

Then there are the three Zen Store ships that are being canonized, the Gagarin, the Reliant, and the Sutherland. These three ships will be on sale for 30% off! If you liked what you saw on screen, don't hesitate to fly it for yourself in the game!

Finally, there's the Ross. This beautiful ship is part of the 10th Anniversary 10 Ship Legendary Bundle, and that bundle is returning for purchase during this event! But not just returning, it'll be 35% off! Grab ten of the most iconic ships in Star Trek history, along with every console, trait and look from nearly every iteration of those ships, and special exclusive skins for each one, like the Ross. You can find this bundle in the Zen Store!

And that's not all! The 2399 Picard Uniform is returning to the Zen Store during this special event! And, save 75% on everything in Mudd's Market (excluding the bundles).

This is a momumentous moment in STO's history, and we're so grateful to all of you who have taken the journey with us over the past 12 years. Look for more about this crossover to come, including media interviews, and our own documentary. We'll see you in the stars, Captains, with four newly canonized ships to get us there.

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How Picard 's Return Brought Some Surprising Starships to Star Trek Canon

After over a decade of charting the 25th century future, picard 's premiere was a chance to bring star trek online into the canonical fold..

When Star Trek: Picard returned last week, it inched the Star Trek timeline forward into a period largely untouched in its TV history. Discovery may have jumped all the way to the 31st century , but a 2401 setting meant exploring Star Trek ’s 25th century future. Except one piece of Star Trek was already charting where no TV show had gone before—and it was a chance to bring it into the fold.

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“The Star Gazer, ” the second season premiere of Star Trek: Picard , caught up with our heroes a year and a half on from the events of the first season’s finale . But when a new threat emerged out on the fringes of space in the form of a massive spatial anomaly—revealed to be a rift in time and space holding a massive Borg vessel—Starfleet had to muster a fleet of assisting ships to answer a threat. And not only this time were they not a carbon-copy flotilla of identical vessels like the last time Picard saw some fleet action, they also made Star Trek history: placed alongside designs old and new, from the updated Stargazer to the latest Excelsior , for the very first time in Star Trek TV canon were original ship designs from Star Trek Online .

Now over a decade old , the free-to-play MMORPG has made the most of charting its own vision of the future in Star Trek ’s timeline, playing out an early 25th century that has seen the Federation and Klingon Empires at war with each other as well as warily united against existential threats, picked up on the fallout from the ends of series like Voyager and Deep Space Nine , and more. But now for the very first time, original content from the game itself has made its way into Star Trek ’s TV canon, thanks to the designs of the Gagarin Miracle Worker Battlecruiser—inspired by the Shepard -class from Discovery; the Legendary Ross Command Exploration Cruiser, a hybrid of the Sovereign and Galaxy -class ships made famous by the Enterprises of The Next Generation ; the Sutherland Advanced Research Vessel; and the Reliant Advanced Light Cruiser, a modern update on the classic Miranda -class made famous by the U.S.S. Reliant in The Wrath of Khan. To find out more about the process of bringing a little touch of Star Trek Online to Picard , io9 spoke to Picard Production Designer David Blass and Star Trek Online Associate Art Director Thomas Marrone to learn more about the unprecedented team up.

James Whitbrook, io9: How did the opportunity come about to bring some STO designs into Picard season two ? From Paramount’s standpoint, as far as the Trek shows go, why was now the time to start pulling on the threads established in the game’s fiction?

Dave Blass: It all started when we realized we needed a larger fleet for Picard . It occurred to me that this could be a great world-building opportunity for Star Trek . Star Trek has all these different elements between TV, film, gaming … I thought if we could find a way to intertwine them and connect them, it would be better for the fan experience.

Star Trek has all these wonderful fans that are so passionate about the series. Video games allow them to become immersed in the Star Trek world but there is not as much crossover as there should be. I was looking at these amazing ships from Star Trek Online and was thinking about how we were missing out on a gigantic opportunity to bring these two worlds together. To use these amazing ships would be a win for everyone. The ships become canon, we get new ships for the show and the fans would be ecstatic.

Thomas Marrone: It really pays off for our players, too. If they’ve been playing STO for the last 12 years and one of the ships appears on the show, that’s a huge emotional touchstone for them. Not only that but the timeline syncs up too. It was exciting when Picard was announced and it was set 30 years after TNG because it butts up against the STO timeline. It makes sense that ships from Star Trek Online would be contemporary to Picard because they are set in the same century.

Throughout its history, Star Trek Online has done a lot to bring canon ships into the game, but we’ve also made our own. This is the first time it happened in reverse direction, where the ships we made for Star Trek Online appear in a canon television show. We did have the opportunity to work with IDW Publishing to bring the Odyssey class into the Picard prequel comics with the U.S.S. Verity, which was a great collaboration. It’s a whole other thing to see it on a Star Trek TV show, for it to jump from licensed work to canon work.

Additionally, Star Trek Online started in 2010, right after the first Kelvin movie and then throughout the drought after these films, we’ve been building our own catalog of ships. Now with this renaissance of Star Trek o n Paramount+— Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, we have an interesting perspective because we were there during the drought and now it’s pouring again. We get to have the best of both worlds.

io9: Tell me a little bit about the collaborative process from a design perspective. Typically STO is working on bringing show and film designs into the game, but this was the other way around—what was it like working together as designers here?

Blass: When I started the design process for Picard , I had to build a team. Back in the ‘90s when they did TNG, Voyager, and DS9 , they had the same group of people who moved from show to show and even worked on ships for the films, so you had the best Star Trek designers in one room for an entire decade. When you had someone design a ship, you had people who understood the vernacular and knew what to do. You didn’t have to explain things to them, like what a nacelle is.

So when I was building my team, I started looking for Star Trek designers - the people who created the ships. In that quest, I found these ships online and thought, “Wow, those are good looking ships.” I kept going back to Gagarin and when I researched it, it led me to Star Trek Online and I thought, “They make a lot of good ships and it’s upgraded to exactly my time period. Who are these people?” I reached out to Thomas and said “You’ve got ships. I need ships. How do we do the thing?” Then we got into the design of the Stargazer and I told him that we also needed help with the design. In the middle of the covid lockdown, we all got into a Zoom call with Thomas, Hector Ortiz (senior concept Artist for STO ), John Eaves (production illustrator for Star Trek ), and Doug Drexler (Academy Award winning designer for Star Trek ) to come up with all of these different ideas and initial sketches. Then it expanded to the fleet and what not and it just became a collaborative experience of people who live and breathe the Star Trek design aesthetic, all working together to bring these ships to the fans. For me, it was a no brainer. They have ships and we needed ships. Plus how cool would it be to go online and command the Stargazer ? It wasn’t as easy as one would think but we were able to do it. We put together a batch of the ten best ships and showed our VFX department and at first I think they thought, “Oh this is just from a video game.” Then they took a closer look and said “Wow. These are really good.” They were well thought out, well designed and really well made. It was such a really great experience and once we were able to get our foot in the door, it opened it up to other opportunities.

io9: STO has a huge selection of original starship designs. Can you tell me about the process for selecting which ships would be the ones brought into TV “canon”?

Marrone: Dave asked me to put together a list of ships that I felt players really connected with, that had a good reputation and were successful in STO . I made a big chart of the 25th century ships in Star Trek Online that might work, then we sort of narrowed it down. There were some that had four nacelles, so we didn’t use those because we didn’t want them to compete with the Stargazer. There was something about the ships that had their own unique silhouette—t h e Gagarin, Sutherland and Reliant . They were ships that STO players would immediately recognize. Eaglemoss already had a model for the Gagarin so we knew those ships were already out in the wild. We looked through the ships that were the most popular then mined them for ships that were contemporary and fit with the visual style of what they were doing with Picard.

io9: Obviously, STO has digital assets of these vessels, but there’s a difference between what works for an MMO designed to run on various scales of hardware and the sort of intense VFX detail we know goes into a show like Picard . What was it like preparing to take the game’s designs and re-imagine them in the sort of detail needed for a big-budget streaming series?

Marrone: This ended up being a great excuse for us. When I found out these were the ships that were going to be in Picard, I spent a lot of time remastering those ships to STO ’s quality bar. Some of the models were four to five years old, so it meant doubling the triangles and some of the details. This actually worked out anyways because STO was about to start its Terran storyline, which meant we would need those ship models anyways and it was a good confluence of resources because we could add a lot of quality to these Starfleet ships. The Sutherland, Reliant,  and Gagarin, those all need a pretty good facelift, but it’s still the same model for the game. I updated the model and sent it to the Picard VFX team. The curves were smoother and there were a lot of details. Because our in-game models are so detailed, they can hold up on screen at a certain amount of distance.

Blass: I think people think there’s some hard drive that says Star Trek on the side that has every model that has ever been used (There isn’t). The reason why TNG featured ships like the Bird of Prey so often is because they had the physical model and were able to re-use it. It was ancient technology. Whatever worked back then doesn’t exist anymore. Everything had to be re-done but STO allowed us a bridge to get the older ships like the Akira class and bring them into the new world. I can’t wait to see what the fans think. I tweeted all of our credits and put Thomas and Hector from Cryptic and people were like “OMG.” It’s improving the situation from s eason one , where we used a lot of the same ships. The fans didn’t like that and so we solved the problem and we did it in such a way that now fans will have all these new ships. People who have never played Star Trek Online will look at these ships and say “Wow, what a great ship. I didn’t know these existed.” And those who play the game will recognize the ships and to fans, that’s what matters. To realize that the ship you fly in the game is a real Star Trek ship, it’s going to be a big thing for these fans.

io9: STO also has aesthetic differences to consider. What were the biggest challenges in adapting the visual feel of these ships into the aesthetic for vessels we’ve seen in the current Trek series like Discovery and Picard ?

Blass: Thomas sent me this giant packet of ships. There were tons. I would flip through them and find ones that matched the cohesive world of the Stargazer. We had four nacelles so we didn’t want another one with four in the wide shot. What do fans want to see that are popular? What are people going to be excited about? We wanted to pick things that felt like they were in the same fleet visually. There were so many to pick from—i t felt like a kid walking into a candy store. It worked out amazingly. When we had the trailer a few weeks ago, the fans already noticed the Nova class and Steamrunner. My Twitter will be very busy and it’s so great that we can finally share the news. Thomas and I have been working on this for almost two years now. It’s definitely something we’ve been holding onto.

io9: STO has had such a huge legacy the past decade telling its own story for Star Trek ’s 24th century future. What does it mean to see some recognition of that work playing out on screen now, especially in a show as nostalgically connected to Trek ’s past as Picard ?

Marrone: It’s a realization of our greatest hope, in a way. As Star Trek fans who worked on this license for a while, we’re still really proud of the art and of the story that we make. To see that being recognized by Picard, it’s very fulfilling and it’s a validation of how much we care and how much of our own fandom we put into our work. So many people who work on Star Trek Online are huge Star Trek fans and are dedicated to getting everything right and continuing that legacy forward, especially as a continuation from TNG to DS9 and Voyager then to the 25th century. For STO , our goal was to feel like the show never stopped, like you’ve never stopped watching Star Trek. To see that come to fruition with Picard, it feels incredible. It’s such a fulfillment of my wildest hopes and dreams for what we can do with Star Trek Online.

Star Trek: Picard is streaming now on Paramount+.

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Ships from Star Trek Online showed up in Picard’s season debut

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The recent premier of Star Trek: Picard ‘s second season included a treat for fans of Star Trek Online .

Four ships from the MMO showed up in the episode “The Star Gazer.” These are the Gagarin Miracle Worker Battlecruiser, the Legendary Ross Command Exploration Cruiser, the Sutherland Advanced Research Vessel, and the Reliant Advanced Light Cruiser.

Star Trek Online debuted in 2010, and it has been a quiet success since launch that still receives new content. Often, actors from the shows will reprise characters for the game. However, it’s rare to see the reverse happen, with other Star Trek media rarely acknowledging the free-to-play game.

This also makes those ships officially part of Star Trek canon, as STO occupies a strange space as far as the franchise’s lore is considered. Essentially, its soft canon, meaning anything established in a Trek TV show or movie overrides the game.

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“It’s been such a great honor working with the STO people, because they are passionate people who know Star Trek design,” Dave Blass, production designer for Star Trek: Picard , noted in a press release. “They know how to design a Federation starship, and it’s so important, both to me and the fans, to work with collaborators who can capture the nuance of these ships, down to the last detail. They made my life so much easier, and we got to use the best possible ships on Picard . It’s going to be an amazing experience for all the fans.”

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How Star Trek: Picard Season 2 fixed its biggest starship controversy

The makers of Star Trek: Picard heard fans didn't like that starship fleet in 2020. Here’s how they corrected that, with a big assist from Star Trek: Online .

Starfleet has come home.

For the first time since Star Trek returned to TV in 2017, the visual vibe of Starfleet suddenly looks like it did in the Next Generation era. In the Season 2 premiere of Star Trek: Picard, “The Star Gazer,” a huge Federation fleet arrives to tango with a bizarre new Borg craft, and the ships in this fleet are instantly recognizable. But the last time we saw a fleet of starships from this era, in the Season 1 finale of Picard, the visual aesthetic was decidedly different. With the introduction of a new USS Stargazer and a plethora of familiar starships, Picard has gone all-in on canonical fan service. Spoilers ahead.

But how did this happen? Picard production designer Dave Blass listened to fans who didn’t like the “copy-and-paste” fleet from Season 1, and he enlisted the help of starship makers for the MMO Star Trek: Online . Inverse caught up with both Blass and Star Trek: Online starship guru Thomas Marrone to talk about the new Stargazer , the canonical appearance of several starships from Star Trek: Online, and why, as fans, it was important to get the ships right.

The fleet takes a hit from the Borg in Star Trek: Picard Season 2.

A new Starfleet

As the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Picard aired in 2020, Dave Blass was already working on Picard Season 2.

“We got the script and found out we were going to do a new ship and that ship was going to be the Stargazer , and that there was going to be a whole fleet in this episode, too,” Blass explains. “And at the same time, the Season 1 finale drops, and fans had a reaction to the Zheng He fleet, and they’re not happy.”

Riker’s fleet of ships in the Picard Season 1 finale was formidable, but a little bit same-y.

Blass is referring to the moment in “Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2” when Riker arrives with a fleet of nearly identical Starfleet ships led by the USS Zheng He . While there was some slight variation, the fact that most of the ships pretty much looked the same irked some fans. Blass says he saw all this chatter and decided to make a change for the big Season 2 fleet scene.

“I know that there's a lot of practical reasons why things happen,” Blass says of the Season 1 fleet. “But I was like, okay, I wonder if there's a way to solve this problem. To turn the obstacle into an opportunity.”

The goal was to give fans a fleet that represented the ships they know and love from the TNG, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine eras. The new Stargazer was going to take center stage, but Blass wanted the ships that arrive for back-up to be ones we know. But the Picard team was short on resources and needed more digital animators to create individual ships, so instead of creating new digital models Blass looked for where they might already exist.

The USS Gagarin from Star Trek: Online .

Star Trek: Online becomes canon

To round out the new fleet for Picard Season 2, Blass contacted Star Trek: Online designer Thomas Marrone with a big idea: To put early 25th century Starfleet ships from the game on screen for the first time.

“I found these ships from Star Trek Online and I was like damn, these are really good looking,” Blass explains. “I was like ‘why are we not doing something here?’ So I reached out to Thomas.”

Blass explains that he wanted the talent of Star Trek: Online’s animators because he needed “people who know how to design Star Trek ships and that [know] a Star Trek ship is not a Star Wars ship.”

The Ross class, designed by Thomas Marrone.

“It was kind of old hat to us,” Marrone says. “We knew what the pitfalls were, what the hard things to do were, and how you take something that's familiar and expand upon it while still making it easily identifiable. We want fans to say, ‘that's a Starfleet ship.’ That's a new version of the Galaxy [class] or whatever. It was always something I’d fantasized about, but when Dave reached out it was certainly a dream come true for us.”

For fans of Star Trek: Online , this meant that several classes of ships are now canonical, including the Ross-class exploration cruiser and the Reliant-class light cruiser. But Marrone and Blass made it clear that the entire fleet in the Picard Season 2 debut isn’t only populated by ships from Star Trek: Online . You’re also seeing a lot of ships from the latter TNG era, including the Akira -class from First Contact and the famous S overeign- class.

“Some of those are the models from the game,” Marrone says. “But we also helped with some existing canon ships. We had a great back catalog of canon ships, they took our models and textures and brought them into their pipeline.”

The new USS Stargazer

The new Stargazer

If you think the bridge of the new USS Stargazer looks really big, Dave Blass wants you to know that’s (kind of) an illusion. The Stargazer bridge isn’t as big as the Discovery bridge, and only a little bit bigger than the bridge of the Enterprise-E .

“It’s 10 feet wider than [the bridge of] the Enterprise-E,” Blass says. “And mainly that’s for tactical reasons. We’re shooting widescreen with multiple cameras. The cameras are likely to crossover and you have to get that camera out of the view of the other camera.”

Blass also clarifies that in terms of overall size, the new Stargazer is “smaller” than the USS Enterprise- D from The Next Generation .

The bridge of the new USS Stargazer .

First introduced in the Next Generation episode “The Battle,” Jean-Luc Picard’s first captaincy before the Enterprise was the USS Stargazer, registry NCC-2893. But the new Stargazer is NCC-82893. Unlike some other starships that share a name, the new Stargazer didn’t get a letter affixed to its number. Instead, it just got an extra digit. Why not make the Stargazer NCC-2893-A? Or B, or C?

Blass has a good answer.

“I dropped the hammer on this one,” he reveals. “The Stargazer is an important ship, but it does not hold the status in the Federation that the Enterpris e had. I didn’t feel it was warranted. Because then every ship gets it and it becomes a thing. The Stargazer didn’t have that legacy.”

The Stargazer versus the new Borg ship.

For fans who think this is some kind of blasphemous deviation from canon, Blass points out that there have been several USS Intrepids in Trek canon, but those aren’t connected by an identical registry number and a sequential letter.

And just in case fans are wondering, yes, there are three versions of the USS Stargazer in Trek canon now. As glimpsed in Rios’ conference room, we see models of Stargazers from the TOS- era, the famous one from the TNG -era, and now, the new one. Blass and model-maker Bill Krause have confirmed the classes for these three Stargazers, too. The oldest one is Radiant- class, Picard’s classic one is Constellation- class. The new Stargazer is Sagan-class, probably named for Carl Sagan. (Or perhaps Nick Sagan, Carl’s son, who wrote for both TNG and Voyager ! )

Why Star Trek ships endure

Digging into the nitty-gritty of Trek starship canon circles around one interesting fact: Essentially all Starfleet ships descend from the basic design of the USS Enterprise, created by designer Matt Jefferies in 1964. Why is this design so iconic, and why has it inspired so many offshoots and remixes?

“That arrangement has survived over 50 years,” Marrone says. “We’re still riffing on that. Gene Roddenberry told [Jefferies] it has to look fast, but it can’t have smoke or flame coming out of the back. So it’s gonna woosh by the camera really fast, and he needed to come up with shapes you could instantly recognize. And that’s how he landed on the saucer, and the neck and the nacelles. That added a certain grace and character, I think.”

The digitally remastered USS Enterprise in The Original Series .

In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Captain Kirk quotes the poem “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield, with the line “All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.” And Marrone thinks that notion of a “tall ship” is exactly why we still love these designs five decades later.

“It’s not X wings and it's not WWII battleships,” Marrone says. “Its age-of-sail, Horatio Hornblower. We’re still in love with that ‘tall ship.’ And that’s because it’s like a character on the show.”

Star Trek: Picard is streaming on Paramount+.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Production Designer Details Starships From Season 2 Premiere

| March 7, 2022 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 130 comments so far

One of the exciting elements of last week’s season 2 premiere of Star Trek: Picard was the appearance of a number of new and familiar Starfleet ships. Now production designer Dave Blass is breaking down all the space ships from the episode.

Dave Blass breaks down the fleet

The following copy and images are based on an extended Twitter thread from Dave Blass , reformatted here for the web with his permission, along with illustrations and details on the designers and artists. The graphics on all charts are by Geoffrey Mandel.  

The first ship we see having issues with the anomaly is the lone U.S.S. Avalon NCC-63887, an Akira-class Starship, one of the few that is called out by name.

The original Akira design is by Alex Jaeger with modeling done by Thomas Marrone.

When Admiral Whitley sends Picard to deal with a new anomaly in space, she makes sure she sends plenty of backup. We get a look at 34 Starfleet vessels in “The Star Gazer,” some old friends and some new.

Jörg Hillebrand already made a chart so I am going to steal his. [UPDATED with ship names]

Our new Hero ship U.S.S. Stargazer NCC-82893 drops in.

It is soon joined by the (new, not refit) U.S.S. Excelsior NCC-42037.

The Sutherland Class U.S.S. Almagest NCC-91870.

The U.S.S. Gagarin NCC-97930.

The Ross Class U.S.S. Vanguard NCC-75148.

The Inquiry Class U.S.S. Rustazh NCC-86503.

It brings us joy to bring back the Sovereign Class and the U.S.S Gilgamesh NCC-74669 and another Sovereign U.S.S Valkyrie NCC-74877.

Making Sean P. Torangeau’s Luna Class a [live-action] canon ship was a great honor as his passion for design inspires us all with the U.S.S. Europa NCC-80104.

The Reliant Class U.S.S. Uhura NCC-90214 is a salute to Nichelle Nichols.

This includes a classic Akira U.S.S Thunderchild NCC-63549.

USS Huygens NCC-91814, another Sutherland class.

Another Reliant Class U.S.S Clark NCC-90206,

Next are a pair of Sutherland Class ships U.S.S. ibn Al-Haytham NCC-91965 and the U.S.S Sutherland NCC-91800.

Another Akira Class, the U.S.S. Helios NCC-63284.

Next up are two Inquiry Class ships, U.S.S. Magellan NCC-86509 and USS Shackleton NCC-86517

The Reliant Class U.S.S. Reliant NCC-90200. Hopefully, [Star Trek Online designer] Thomas Marrone can chime in on the design.

The Luna Class U.S.S. Oberon NCC-80103.

This includes three more Sovereign Class, U.S.S. Venture NCC-75306, U.S.S. Arsinoe NCC-75307, and U.S.S. Hutchinson NCC-74975. The John Eaves design of the Sovereign is one of my favorites.

And the Ross Class U.S.S. Yi Sun-Sin NCC-76545.

A second Excelsior II Class, the U.S.S Eureka NCC-42023, is next to the U.S.S. Hrothgar NCC-74975, and (another canon addition) U.S.S. Okuda NCC-74107, both Sovereign Class ships.

The Akira Class USS Rabin NCC-63293.

And the Sovereign U.S.S. Pachacuti NCC-74181.

The Inquiry Class USS Nathan Hale NCC-86501.

And the biggest baddest ship in the fleet even shows up to tangle with the Borg. The U.S.S. Zheng He NCC-86505 rounds out the list.

How does Picard get to the U.S.S. Stargazer? In the brand-new Type 14 Long Range Shuttle Craft the U.S.S. Jemison, named for astronaut Mae Jemison and designed by John Eaves and Harald Belker.

Finally, the Borg “Singularity” Ship was designed by John Eaves and  Dave Blass, with modeling by James Chung.

UPDATE: Stargazer dedication

Dave Blass followed up with more on Twitter …

The Starship Registration plaques have become an excellent place to give credit where credit is due. In past years the plaques have combined creatives and executives into the world of Starfleet Brass. The Admiralty Board was at my suggestion. We stand on their shoulders.

Video on new Stargazer

Paramount has also released a video feature with Dave Blass and others talking about the new USS Stargazer.

Video on Star Trek Online ships

The fleet included some designs from the game Star Trek Online. The following video, which includes Blass again, goes behind the scenes on how the ship went from the game to the show.

New episodes of  Star  Trek: Picard  premiere on Thursdays on  Paramount+  in the U.S. and on Fridays where Paramount+ is available around the world. In Canada, it airs on  CTV Sci-Fi Channel  on streams on  Crave  on Thursdays.  Picard  is also available on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video around the world.

Find more stories on the  Star Trek Universe .

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Interesting. I thought the Excelsior would be Obena Class.

Very similar thought, though I hadn’t really enjoyed that class name in the first place (and the explanation for it was, in my opinion, stupid).

That being said, I’m wondering why the artwork here appears to show the USS Excelsior with acutely-angled nacelle pylons, while the Eureka appears to have the more ‘classic’ 90-degree angles from the foreword view.

Note: By stupid, I mean that the guy hasn’t yet earned the right to have a ship or ship class named after him.

Before they will release tng on paramount+ I hope they will take the opportunity to fix the stretched/squeezed enterprise shots and the heaviest of the many season 2 mistakes!!!

Not sure if they feel any financial incentive to do that.

The SD copies of DS9 and Voyager on P+ often have black and white overscan lines on them and the picture has not been deinterlaced.

I keep saying we should watch the hell out of the new TMP to make it evident we appreciate investment in the legacy shows and films. Fall asleep to it every night, if you like. Some would argue that’s what it’s made to do .

‘Fall asleep to it every night.’

That definitely won’t be an issue for me. 😂

lol, I have literally put that movie on to fall asleep and it works!

They fixed episodes of tng exclusively for netflix after the mistakes where spotted on blu ray. And because of the viacom/cbs/paramount merger I think the financial aspect of the studio is stronger then ever.

Huh? Which episodes? I had no idea about this and I’d really like to see because I only watch on the blu rays

Oh did they? Well, that’s good, then. Paramount+ screams of having a backlog of things that need fixing, no doubt that is somewhere on the list.

The financial aspect I could see going either way though. They could invest more in the legacy shows and films to keep those fans happy, or they could rest on their laurels knowing Paramount+ is the only place to stream them now, so why bother upgrading anything? Paramount Global is a big company that wastes plenty of money, but it’s no Netflix/Apple/Amazon/Disney. It has a long history of pinching pennies with only a few exceptions.

Like Lukas,I would like to know as well.

THE RELIANT! THE EXCELSIOR! OH MY!

What about USS Gigamesh. A fictional character? Is there a USS Sherlock Holmes? There probably is…..

Sure, why not a Gilgamesh? The US Navy has had several ships named Hercules.

There’s already ships named after fiction… Potemkin, Thunderchild, et.al.

Potemkin is a fictional ship?

No. It was a battleship back in the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Potemkin

Not the right one. The question was about the ship.

It was a rhetorical question!

How dramatic,lol!

Some cool boats, some clunkers. Weird how the “Miranda” class is renamed “Reliant” class – that would be like renaming all Constitution or Galaxy class ships “Enterprise” class

It’s because of the refit. Some fanon documents do list the Constitution Refit as Enterprise Class.

Not just fanon. The original STAR TREK CHRONOLOGY from just after TMP’s release also has the refit listed as Enterprise-class, as per its principal designer Andy Probert. Circumstantial evidence also indicates Enterprise-class on-screen in TWOK based on signage by TMP/TWOK graphics designer Lee Cole, though that has been (mis?) interpretted as meaning the class of students assigned to the refit at the start of the film.

Miranda is a moon, so the 24th Century USS Miranda is probably Luna-class.

Miranda class is named for the rights, as we already had a constitution class. I’d imagine there’s a magna-carta class somewhere.

We had Oberth, Excelsior, Galaxy, Constellation and Intrepid classes too, though. That doesn’t mean Miranda is named for the 1960s guy the rights are named for.

It’s just great to see the TNG era back and fully alive these days. And it’s obvious all the people running these new shows are long time fans themselves and trying to honor this era as best they can. Also helps when you bring back others who were responsible for the look and feel of it from the beginning.

As someone who has been skeptical about the new stuff as others at times, the last year has been some of my favorite Trek in 20 years and hope it continues.

So many ugly ship designs that look like are supposed to evoke the feelings of “sharp” and “fast”. The design language of this supposed utopia and its peaceful science and exploration arm is very aggressive and warlike. Hmmm. Its almost as if these ships were designed by people from a more war-like primitive culture. Oh, wait. Makes sense thinking that these designs are from MEN born in the 20th century with all its hot rods, war carnage and pollution. Design is supposed to assist in telling a story and setting a tone. These ship designs fail in setting the tone that this is a better future. The shift away from the deliberate roundness of the Enterprise-D and details like the defensive hand phasers NOT looking like guns, to the obvious guns with barrels (why?!) and these sharp “knife” vibe ships is a major design oversight and flaw. Anyone can design spaceships… it would seem that not everyone is capable of using a design language to help tell a story and create a setting. #BelowAverageTalent

You’re a toxic little cookie, aren’t you? The only ship out of all of those which have a very hard-edged, overtly aggressive look is the Gagarin Class. All the others look mechanical, hell one is even a variation of the Galaxy class.

You may think they’re below average talent, but you’ve not demonstrated you’re any authority to claim better either

Trek fans: End of season one, some are raising holy hell that Riker shows up with a fleet of similar vessels. Season two, holy hell for different ships. Movies are boring, bring on the epic starship battles. Why does does Starfleet look like its itching for a fight? Where’s the E-D flying hotel?

Come on now, none of this s**t works, it’s all artistic interpretation. Okay, maybe not to your liking, which actually is allowed, but unless you’re out there doing something better, you’re in no position to be judging talent. There’s nothing wrong with the talent. All you have is an opinion…and not everyone is going to agree with it.

We were upset that they did a cut and paste for the entire fleet in season one. Then there was an elaborate explanation about how it makes sense to have a fleet with interchangeable ships/parts. Then we have this years vastly superior fleet, which we all love, but it undoes the new, albeit ridiculous, cannon that they established only a year ago.

All of that to complain about a bunch of ships ready to go to war.

You…need better priorities.

You can barely see any of it onscreen.

The two things I dislike in the general direction of the designs where John Eaves has been involved, from say around Star Trek: First Contact forward, he tends to flatten Federation starships (they lose the necks connecting the drive and saucer sections), and he doesn’t seem to like having an actual honest to god saucer section.

A lot of his designs have moved more and more towards the saucer section being an arrowhead, and I think the hero ships look less distinctive with the sleekness.

If you look at the original Matt Jefferies design of the TOS Enterprise, there’s a coherent visual design of contrasting shapes (cylinders, domes, etc.) with sharp angles. When you sleek all of that out, I think it loses something.

I agree that the neck and saucer is an elegant and iconic look. I believe the argument for reducing that has been the increased amount of combat Starfleet has come up against. In a battle, ships with a slim profile and fewer weak points tend to be able to avoid/absorb more shots and last longer.

It does seem in canon/universe that the Borg made them change their designs. Less weak points like the neck in between the saucer and secondary hull.

Since Reliant was est. to have 1864-M in Star Trek discovery shouldn’t it have an A or B?

This is about as perfect a textbook example of the ancient adage “there’s always one” as I’ve ever seen. Well done, Luke.

Can’t lie, I do love starship p*rn. Very nice to see John Eaves still working for the franchise, and it was delightful to see the Okudas feted in the other article today. Herman Zimmerman tearing up got me me!

USS Hrothgar > someone behind the scenes plays Skyrim.

Horthgar doesn’t get any higher than that.

Or likes Beowulf…

Was so awesome to see so many different ships here after the single design fleet at the end of S1.

Looks pretty good for the most part. I hear that ironically the Thunderchild is crewed entirely by Martians. ;-)

No one would have believed, in the first year of the 25th century…

Thunderchild = Donnager? Gosh, I love that name…

Very happy to see the effort to assemble a “real” fleet instead of the same ship copy/pasted a few dozen times in the finale of Season One 🥳 Looking forward to rest of Season Two.

I still have no idea what they were thinking with that? At least have one or two classic ships show up when some of us have been waiting to see these ships again for 20 years and on a show that didn’t bother to even show a starship until the finale.

They obviously learned their lesson in a big way and didn’t keep us waiting for 10 episodes. 😏

Seriously how hard is to understand. The show was slowed by Covid, both production offices and venders. They don’t have High Definition CGI files of the legacy ships. What they had would need to be heavily reworked. And since they no longer have physical models to scan, they can’t even get that head start. So to use a legacy ship means that either heavily rework on older file (and I have no idea if they are still compatible with the programs they currently use, or even what ones CBS actually had) or recreate a legacy ship from scratch. Meaning they are needing to match geometry. It can be easier and faster to create something new. Its not like the designers or the producers of the show wouldn’t have liked to do more.

It’s the same reason the only fleet in TOS featured constitution class. Why they reused the filming models of the Bird of Prey, K’Tinga, Excelsior, reliant and Grissom so heavily in TNG. Why so many ships both from models or CGI renders have been reused or modified to be a new ship. Why in Enterprise they had to reuse an old ship instead of a create a new design. Why DS9 had to use AMT models and hallmark ornaments for ships.

Shows have limits on what they can and can’t accomplish with the time, money, artists they have available for them.

Now the real option they had, but one that’s not their decision. Would be once they new they were falling behind schedule, is to split the season (I Don’t know when they found out they were getting swamped). And this can absolutely happen. But its a studios not the producers decision. Now one thing to also remember is that when CoVid was hitting, the idea wasn’t lets take more time to get something done. It was how do we cross the finish line as fast as possible so that our workforce isn’t decimated.

This is something that no other previous generation of Trek ever had to deal with. If it wasn’t for that its quite possible that the studio would have had more designers working, more modelers working and possible pony up the money to engage addition CGI artists to get things done. But that absolutely wasn’t going to happen with covid at that time. Now that production has learned to deal and manage their production during times of covid (they’ve had to), But at that time. It was get it done, close it down and get everyone home.

it’s really very easy to understand what they were thinking.

Sorry not buying it!

First off, what is your source they originally planned to use various models in the first place? Because I have never seen an interview, anywhere , that cited this. Of course maybe I just never saw it for myself, but then source please? AFAIK, no one every said that was the plan. They could’ve just come out and said that and if they did it would’ve been sourced over and over again. This is how the internet works. People would’ve still hated it, but OK, at least they had some excuse for it.

And Covid shut everything down a week before the the final episode aired. So you’re trying to tell me they were THAT behind?? Still adding visual effects days before it was to air? I’m sorry I don’t buy it at all. I’m not anywhere close to an FX professional and I know when it comes to big effect films shots can be rendered until the last days before a premiere. But you’re talking about just completing the overall effects, ie, creating them DAYS before the episode ran, which sound insane to me. Or am I interpreting that wrong?

But just to prove I try to be fair about this (because I’m not here to be proven ‘right’, simply accurate) I went and tried to find anything you said to back up your claim. The only thing I found discussing the finale’s production and FX was on wikipedia. And here it is:

“The season finale was the largest episode for visual effects that Zimmerman had worked on across both Picard and Discovery,[75] requiring 60 to 70 visual effects shots.[89] The visual effects team had eight to ten weeks to complete the episode. They began by mapping out the battle between the Romulan fleet, the giant space orchids used by the synthetics, and the Federation fleet, figuring out where the factions would be in relation to the planet Coppelius. Once Goldsman approved the plan, a previsualization of the sequence was created and then the animation was refined from there.[75] For the orchids, Chabon was loosely inspired by the works of Jean Giraud, and mentioned orchids throughout the season as part of Soji’s backstory to set-up their later appearance. The final orchid models were scaled down from the original designs,[35] and their colors were adjusted to be photo-real and to better contrast with the Borg Cube since they appear onscreen together. The bridges of the Federation and Romulan ships in the finale were also created digitally.[89]”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Picard_(season_1)#Production

Funny how nothing you said was mentioned in the article. Nothing about Covid or the shut down causing them major delays or the idea that the Federation fleet was anything more than what was originally shown. The part I highlighted made it as clear as day, Goldsman APPROVED the original plan, so they created the previsualization for the scene and they created it as we saw it. So what else am I missing please?

But this is just one article. Maybe there are other sources out there that gives a bigger picture, but according to this at least it sounded like everything went according to plan, right? So if you have a link, then provide it please? I’m not saying there couldn’t be other factors, but there is nothing I could find that stated anything you said. And I at least have some proof my claim isn’t far off and this is simply what they came up with . I did remember reading somewhere the team didn’t have a lot of time to finish the episode, but it had nothing to do with Covid, it was just a rushed production all around….and it showed all through the finale, not that scene alone.

I can corroborate that they didn’t have much time to do the VFX. A friend worked on season one’s CGI, showed me some usused shots after the show had aired. He didn’t work on the fleet shots, but said they were still finessing shots a week before broadcast at times, and it wouldn’t surprise him if they didn’t have time to find/refine and incorporate other ship models. Hence the copy + paste Federation and Romulan fleets with only 1 brand new model (and some variant in there for the Feds, apparently).

Judging from Blass’ explanation of how much work still went into the fleet we did see and why they reached out to Star Trek Online for help, it makes sense they were rushed. It easily could have been unrelated to COVID.

And that’s completely acceptable. That I can buy and I even said that in my post. I heard the same thing, the production was far behind and it was clear just by watching the finale on it’s own, that stuff was not completed in an appropriate manner.

And I’ll go one step farther and say yes, it IS possible that the delay changed their plans with the ships. So I trust what you and your friend are saying.

I’m only saying we can’t say that’s what happened either because no one has simply come out and said it. And I don’t buy it had anything to do with the pandemic because it was never even reported the production became delayed due to it like Discovery and Lower Decks was reported at the time. And even if that was true, they had nearly 2 years to just say that by now, righ?.

In fact, I was thinking about when Michael Chabon was doing damage control after the finale aired and was using his instagram page to answer fan questions about everything that was missed or unexplained. Trekmovie posted it here too. To his credit he tried to answer every question given to him but never at any time did he try to excuse the cut and paste ships. I just went to look at his answers for those. Here they are:

“Why only one class of Federation ship?

I believe but am working to confirm that there are actually four distinct classes.

Why do Starfleet have so many of the same incredible ship? Do they have any others?

It would be odd and unprecedented if they didn’t.”

https://trekmovie.com/2020/03/28/michael-chabon-answers-fan-questions-about-star-trek-picard-finale-loose-ends-season-two-and-more/

So yeah! Those were his answers. Maybe he is just trying to answer some of the questions ‘in universe’ but the guy was asked point blank and this was all he provided. But in that same exchange, he admitted in other cases things were changed or omitted due to time or editing. Not once did he suggest that here though.

And literally why I asked the question I did in my post because two years on this is the ONLY thing I found talking directly about the ships and this guy was the show runner. If there was a time to use Covid as a reason for your lackluster finale, here was your chance and yet the pandemic or shut down was never brought up to excuse any of it. It just sounds like they bit off more than they could chew and just got behind. It happens.

And I’m not trying to gang up on Mark Wood. But I think he at least understands now why so many of us are still confused years later over it. ;)

No, I agree with you, not much more we can say without more corroborating anecdotes.

I know you did….I just keep babbling lol.

Oh I’ve definitely been there too!

Picard season 1 wasn’t impacted by the pandemic. The industry didn’t start shutting down until the middle of March, 2020 and the Picard finale debuted on 3/26/2020. Post production had wrapped long before that date.

The season finale had been rewritten and those revised pages called for a new ship with RIker in command to save the day. John Eaves was asked to submit a design and he provided one.

In a nutshell: they had a tight post-production schedule. It had nothing to do with the pandemic.

Thanks Denny C!

As to this ‘covid affected it’ – I guess the thing that stops me buying it is looking at some of the STUNNING fan made cgi on YouTube. These people are solo and they come up with astonishing work. One of them is Tobias – something. Can’t recall the full name. There are others just doing it for sheer fandom and as a hobby. If they can come up with stuff that looks as good as it does, then studios really have no excuse. They did the right think hooking up with Star Trek online so I forgive it now, of course, forgive and move on. But it doesn’t change the fact that they could have done that before, or poached a few fans off YouTube like Lucas film did with the deep fake guy for Luke Skywalker.

So agreed! I seen one of them at least a year ago and it was pretty impressive how well it looked and just did a much better job using classic ships compared to what we got in Picard. It is just amazing what fans can do on Youtube these days and for free. Your example of people getting actual jobs in LucasFilm because of how well they crafted an image of Luke Skywalker really does show that is real talent being displayed in these videos and showing up with professional FX artists are doing who are given tons of money and resources to do the same work.

I do feel they have redeemed themselves with this episode and all the great work and passion they brought with these new ships. And the Picard cut and paste wasn’t the worst shot ever or anything, as I said in my OP, fans were waiting not just ten episodes but really 20 years to see those ships again on a brand new show that supposedly had tons more money and technology to do anything they wanted and it really fell flat. When you build something up like that, then it better wow people by the time you get there.

Ok, so what am I supposed to do with all these new desktop images????

Decisions, decisions…

Great article. Hopefully the Stargazer dedication plaque will show up at Eaglemoss soon.

Yay! Attached nacelles! What more can you ask for? Seriously, these are all cool. I like them much better than the 32nd century designs. It would be interesting to see the Enterprise E, F or G someday.

I am not a huge fan of many of them, but I really dislike almost all of the 32nd century ships, so glass half full.

The Disco ships all just look like concept cars.

Some people will find any excuse to hate on Discovery, huh? Even in other threads talking about another Trek show.

To dislike something ist not hate….

It would be interesting to know if this design team reached out to the Sagan estate and ran this Sagan class design by them. Maybe they did, and I just missed it.

USS Rustazh…

That name is familiar to readers of a certain Final Reflection …

YES! I love the acknowledgement of Karen, and still one of the best Klingon stories ever written.

*Krenn. Khest’n autocorrect.

Cranston, your correction wins the day.

I love seeing that name in canon.

That’s the (largely) standalone TREK story I’d most like to see tackled as a standalone feature, even more than PRIME DIRECTIVE or MY ENEMY MY ALLY or THE WOUNDED SKY (lots of element on those last two found their way into THE TRAITOR and WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE.)

I don’t dig the Eaves aesthetic for starships, going back to the E’s hull plating seeming like a TMP-era K’tinga, but I understand their reluctance to use TOS-like bold different shapes, out of fear of being rejected by a younger audience. Joe Jennings fought hard to keep the refit and RELIANT smooth-skinned as the ‘chris-craft’ of starships, and in the end all it seemed this integrity got him and Mike Minor were pats on the back and shoves out the door.

Some of these are pretty awful, but mostly they’re great; and, most important, none have those stupid detachable nacelles.

Wow, I didn’t notice the USS Uhura until now! Nice touch! :)

This is great, although I can’t say I’m a huge fan of some of these STO designs, especially the Ross and Sutherland class with their enormous deflectors. The new Excelsior looks phenomenal, hopefully we get a good look at it on the show.

We know we’ll eventually see the Steamrunner and Nova class ships. I’m surprised they didn’t use them in the fleet shots since they needed so many.

I’m actually a bit shocked we didn’t get an Intrepid class either. I think many fans would’ve loved to seen a Voyager model there as well.

I’m just happy that there are starships that don’t have windows for viewscreens.

I actually really like the windows, though at first I was a bit hesitate. But clearly thinking of the D, that ship was covered by huge windows all over the places and they never seemed to be the weak point for the ship. So clearly the material used is close to the strength of the utter hull. And having a way to physically see when systems go down is very practical. Or being in a situation where an opponent could scrabble a ships sensors but at least in close range you could still visually acquire them.

If you wanna know something about windows and starships…they actually don’t help with navigation. Seriously, you think you can pilot a starship from just looking out a window? A starship without sensors is useless, no matter what little glimpse you get out of a window. So I think it’s mainly an aesthetic choice, no practical value to it at all.

I don’t think they’re used for navigation, but just to see what is outside. Think of all the times sensors were spoofed to screw up what was being seen on the view screen. With a giant window you wouldn’t be able to get away with such a thing.

If the systems go down, a window isn’t going to help because even if you can see where you are going… the systems are still down.

And living in a world where lip reading is a real thing (Even depicted in science fiction like 2001: A Space Odyssey), having a huge window where anyone can look into the bridge from the outside raises all kinds of concerns. One moment you’re bluffing to the enemy who’s being projected onto the viewscreen and the next you’re telling your crew what the real plan is. Not to mention that so many brightly lit displays on the bridge would also be in plain sight to anyone who’s watching. A huge window where you can see most of the bridge from the outside is a vulnerability.

Plus aesthetically, it’s an eye sore. It removes the ‘uniformity’ look that Starships had. One ship design that I really liked in Star Trek Beyond was the USS Franklin. I thought it did a better job at conveying what a pre-TOS Starfleet ship would look like better than the NX-01. But the one thing that ruins it for me is that stupid window that is carved right out of the saucer section. It would look so much better without it.

Given the velocities at which these ships normally travel, it would make absolutely no sense that they would ever get so close to be in visual range. If your ship moves at tens of thousands of kilometers per second you don’t approach within 5 or 10 km. Star Trek has always been very unrealistic in that respect. Or let’s say: They went with what would look good on screen, not what would look realistic on screen.

I know we are just fans but this is very sweet.

I always enjoy seeing things from the tie in material brought into the mainstream canon.

Kind of amazing to think the last couple years have brought into official screen canon not only all this Star Trek Online stuff and the Luna-class design but also the Brikar species, the term Ni’Var, and the Space Fun Helmet from licensed print media, fan works, and most especially the bizarre realm of the ‘70s Remco toys.

As a person who never played STO, that is pretty impressive. I didn’t know that about the Brikar for example. I thought they came from a novel first.

It just really speaks to the new makers of all these shows and trying to be inclusive with both canon and beta canon.. It makes everything feels whole. If Discovery did just a third of this kind of stuff first season, people may have had a different view of that show from the outset.

I think the Brikar did come from a novel first. I wasn’t saying all these things came specifically from Star Trek Online , just that they all came from various sources outside official screen canon (whether books, comics, games, toys, even fan works, whatever) and in the last couple years have all become actual screen canon.

Yeah when I read it again I realized you were talking all beta canon in general, which is still cool.

Would’ve been cool to see a California class show up. Not necessarily the Cerritos, but to see a California in live-action would give it… I don’t know… I feel like until we see it in live-action it’s not quite solidified in canon if you get what I mean. I want it to get the live-action legitimacy.

Just sending some love to TrekMovie for this article. I really appreciate the work that went into putting this together. Thank you!

I’m really curious as to what possible criteria Starfleet could be using for giving a starship’s name the (A, B, C, D, etc.) suffix that keeps the original registry number versus a whole new registry number with the same name.

We know from canon that it isn’t something special just to honor the Enterprise (i.e., TNG has a USS Yamato with a registry number that has an “E” designation). And 32nd century Starfleet gave Discovery the “A” designation after it was refit with new tech even though it was the same ship.

But Stargazer, whom Picard’s showrunner has said is supposed to be Picard’s original ship just gutted and refit with new tech, has an “8” added to the registry number. And the new USS Excelsior has a new registry number even though the ship is distinguished enough to have its own plaque at Starfleet Academy honoring its achievements.

Is it one of those things where it’s just up to the whims of whatever admirals are in charge of ship naming at the moment?

There seems to be a disconnect between the showrunner’s intentions and what the production team executed. Happens plenty of times. Matalas says this is the old Stargazer refit to within an inch of its life. The dedication plaque says the old Stargazer is in a museum.

Soo… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In a museum makes way more sense than trying to upgrade the old Stargazer.

I like the look of some of these ships. Really confused with the registrations. Excelsior is my fav ship, would like to have seen this be a ‘B, C D’ etc.

I named my Sovereign class the Valkyrie in STO like 8 years ago

So now I’m in Star Trek!

Legit, I’m so proud of STO. When it 1st launched in 2010, calling it a B quality game would be a stretch. Now, while the game engine leaves much to be desired, the ship design team are without a doubt of AAA-caliber quality.

In fact, I can tell most of the screens in this article are pulled from Star Trek Online

I’m a big fan of starship design, and I guess I like the sort of remixes of pre-existing classes, but I still find the new designs trash. Zheng He is an abomination, as is the Yi Sun Sin and Vanguard. Stargazer looks very similar to Disco-era [23rd century] designs. So yeah it’s exciting to see the varied fleet, but if we’re gonna nitpick, then no, that’s not how the Excelsior class looks. Why can’t you just make it how it’s ALWAYS looked? Why you gotta “put your own spin on it”? So you can sell more Eaglemoss models? Sigh…I miss the days of physical models. Not only for the consistency of it, but the fact that they were real, tangible things, that looked physical on screen. Not these weightless CGI kitbashes.

It appears to be the “Excelsior II class,” so no, probably not meant to be the original class but a second generation. A refit perhaps?

I for one am very happy to see the Sovereign class get so much love finally!!!! One thing I am curious about with the Stargazer though. I thought it’s not possible to outfit a ship with four warp nacelles? I could’ve sworn I read somewhere that having four nacelles is not good at all for a starship, like it puts too much pressure on the hull or something?

I absolutely loved seeing all those ships!!! I am very intrigued about the Borg one as well. It’s a radically different design then any we’ve seen before. It looks like a giant spider and the ships looked like flies in its web.

I can’t wait to see how this story turns out! Oh, and kudos to Alex Kurtzman and everyone else for including Walter M. Jefferies and Herman Zimmerman on the Stargazer’s registration plaque. Really nice touch👌👍. What a really great way to honor two men that had such a big impact on designing two different Enterprises.

Live long and prosper, Trekmovie 🖖.

The original Stargazer from TNG had four nacelles. It was basically a Constitution -class kitbash that used a modified saucer section attached to a twinned neck with two impulse engines and four nacelles. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Constellation_class

Thanks 👍🙂. I didn’t remember the Stargazer having 4 nacelles. And what makes it worse is I have the Stargazer novels (haven’t read them yet though.) and you can clearly see on the covers of two of them that the Stargazer has 4 nacelles. Crazy, huh😄?

All I had to do was look at the books. Thanks again and live long and prosper 🖖.

It’s obvious a lot of work went into these. I guess I’m not feeling the new ships, because they don’t feel harmonious or proportioned correctly, and aren’t as identifiable or iconic as the Enterprise -A or D. A lot of overcomplicated angular shapes, reminiscent of extreme sneaker styling or those weird open-frame gamer PC cases they make these days.

The Zheng He looks odd to me as it feels very chopped-down and blunted, tough but not really elegant to look at. Those weird…shark scales? Windows?…along the edges of the saucer section don’t help. I get that it was designed to be a carrier of some kind (hence the blunt nose and front-opening shuttlebay) but it doesn’t feel Starfleet-ish.

Between all these designs, there’s little consistency in nacelles. Many don’t seem to inherit any design language from the main ship. On many with underslung nacelles, like the Akira and Luna classes, they look like big rabbit feet instead of sleek power pods as on the original Reliant. As a subscriber to Nacelles Monthly I must protest :)

Would have been nicer if the exterior camera panned over all the ships to give us a full view of all the models. e.g. Tracking Rafi transferring by shuttle from her ship within the fleet to the Star Gazer ship

I am a sucker for starship designs, so I am here for this! I love the naming and the various designs. I still prefer the four-number registries personally. They just look cleaner to my eye, but I digress! I still have to address the elephant in the room: where’s the Enterprise?

Nice to see some Sovereign class ships…still arguably the most beautiful in Trek

Great models for the most part, hope we get a cheeky look at an Intrepid and Defiant class at some stage.

I hope they bring the Vesta/Rademaker class over to on screen canon, that is one amazing ship design

I really liked the new Stargazer bridge set. I hope they do an in-depth look at that set some day.

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that one of Mike Okuda’s favorite shows is MASH; I think it’s a missed opportunity that his namesake ship registry isn’t NCC-74077. :-/

Just a couple of comments:

A) The producers justifiably got panned for the fleet of starships that showed up in the premiere of Discovery S1 way back in 2018. They did a better job in S1 of Picard, but even though there were at least two classes ships, it looked like post production did a digital “cut and paste” job on the scene with the Romulans. This time around, they got it right – third times a charm! In fact, I would suggest they went more than a little overboard because they obviously spent a LOT OF MONEY coming up with a scene that only lasted a few seconds. I would imagine, they will be using these images and ship names again sometime in the future.

B) What is ironic? Way back in 1967, the TOS producers laughingly did an analog “cut and paste” to portray the war games starship fleet in the “Ultimate Computer”. NOTE: I am referring to the original version of the episode, not the digitally remastered version. Now of course, there were big budget restrictions and only limited VFX available for a 1960s television show, but as a kid I can still remember thinking the special effects with the four identical starships looked pretty ridiculous and wondering what the show could have done, if money were not an object.

Just out of curiosity: How do people like Jörg Hillebrand assign the names to all these ships in the fleet shots? They are obviously far too small to read off the hulls. I’m having a hard time even matching the ship classes, let alone individual ships when there’s more than one of a specific class. Is it just guess work? Do they have insider information that we don’t?

I love those new and refit ship designs. Inquiry Class ist still there, but not a swarm of them anymore… I especially like the Ross class (named after war hero Admiral Ross???), which seems to be the love child of Galaxy and Ambassador class… I want more series in that time period!

Love to see all these ships.

But does it bother anyone else that none of the registries have letters associated with them to indicate lineage? Is the Enterprise really the only ship to continue with 1701-A, B, etc. You would think even the Stargazer would be NCC-2893-B or something.

People bitched when they use they copy-and-paste fleet. People bitch when they get creative and try some new ships. There is no pleasing Trekkies.

you new here?

Sarcasm aside, YES, Trekkies/Trekkers are a fiercely passionate bunch whom nit-pick, critique and comment ad nauseum. Most want the best for Trek in its many incarnations! IDIC aside, many people want familiar things. And specific things, given the limited views presented onscreen. Keep being passionate, Trekdom!

The nacelle struts on Excelsior are still using those odd-looking right angles. Wish they would have updated that.

I’d like a Season 4 of Season 4 is really Season 1 of Star Trek: Stargazer, I’m all in. If fans could manifest Strange New Worlds, can we please make a new Trek series based in the 25th century – a natural next step. Give us Captain Rios, his cool new ship and an all new crew. Dale!

I can’t express how much I love seeing all these TNG Ships on screen again.

Trek is not Trek without the ENTERPRISE.

What about Deep Space 9 and Voyager?

a) That’s a ridiculous statement.

b) Be patient, there will be more Enterprises. There will always be more Enterprises.

There are plenty of letters left in the alphabet :P

Kind of is, bruh.

This is just fantastic!!!! Finally a proper and worthy fleet. Delighted to see some iconic designs here especially the Sovereign and Akira class. Like all of the new designs. Huge Thanks to everyone involved.

It continues to be dumbfounding to me that even now, and with all those names that can fit on a dedication plaque, Gene L. Coon continues to get no recognition at all. Without him, Star Trek would be a very different franchise, and very well could have ended after TOS.

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You season 5 set photos confirm return of fan-favorite character, stephen king raves about netflix's "extraordinary" sci-fi adaptation.

Prior to Star Trek: Picard season 3's premiere, the official @startreklogs Instagram page released character and ship profiles that provide major updates to Star Trek: The Next Generation 's characters, and even a few famous starships. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) reunites his old USS Enterprise-D and E crew to meet a new threat named Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer). A few of the familiar faces from TNG make their long-awaited canonical returns in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

The @startreklogs Instagram page unveiled character profiles for nine of Star Trek: Picard season 3's main characters as well as the starships USS Enterprise, USS Titan, and La Sirena.

Notably, @startreklogs has proven to be a canonical source of information. During Star Trek: Prodigy , the Admiral's logs by Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) delivered important and often new background information about related episodes. Prodigy' s @startreklogs entries were written by executive producer Aaron Waltke, which made them Star Trek canon. Star Trek: Picard season 3 is following suit with its @startreklogs entries, and here are the biggest reveals:

Related: Star Trek Gave TNG 3 Finales (Including Picard Season 3)

12 La Sirena

The SS La Sirena was the hero ship of Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2, and it may yet play a role in season 3. La Sirena has become something of a Picard heirloom; its original owner was Captain Cristobal Rios (Santiago Cabrera), who gave the ship to Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) when he returned to Starfleet in between Picard seasons 1 and 2. @startreklogs reveals that Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) now owns La Sirena, but its status and whereabouts in Star Trek: Picard season 3 are "unknown."

11 USS Titan

The USS Titan-A under the command of Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) is Star Trek: Picard season 3's hero ship, but @startreklogs revealed heretofore unknown information about the prior starships named Titan. The 23rd-century Shangri La-class USS Titan, NCC-1777, was launched in 2290 under the command of Captain Saavik (Kirstie Alley/Robin Curtis)! Further, the Titan was named the flagship of the United Federation of Planets at the suggestion of Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). Captain Saavik's Titan was "known for its multiple encounters with the Klingon Empire, including the Exo-Port Takeover and Horizon colony rescue." The Titan remained the Federation flagship until the launch of the USS Enterprise-B in 2293.

The second Titan was the Luna-class NCC-80102 under the command of Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes). The 24th-century Titan's mission was to handle threats like the Romulans, the Borg, and the Pakleds as seen in Star Trek: Lower Decks . Riker's Titan suffered heavy damage and was pulled from service in 2398, although Riker had already resigned from Starfleet years prior. Saavik and Riker's legacies led to the launch of the third Titan, NCC-80102-A. The Constitution-III class Titan will be seen in Star Trek: Picard season 3, and it boasts the most powerful sub-light impulse engines in Starfleet. Whether this will factor into Star Trek: Picard season 3 remains to be seen.

10 USS Enterprise

The legacy of the 8 starships named USS Enterprise is well-known, but @startreklogs dropped huge new information about the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E and the Odyssey-class Enterprise-F, which will be seen in action for the first time in Star Trek: Picard season 3. The Enterprise-E's final mission is intriguingly labeled as "classified." It may or may not have taken place after Jean-Luc Picard was promoted to Admiral to lead the rescue mission to save the Romulans from their sun going supernova.

Related: Picard Season 3 Could Team Up 4 Classic Star Trek Ships

The Enterprise-F was launched in 2386 - one year after the Mars Attack in Star Trek: Picard season 1 - and was "commanded by several Captains in the past 15 years." The Enterprise-F is "currently scheduled for decommissioning after critical systems were compromised during the "Monfette Gambit. " The Enterprise-F's "final flight will be on display during this year's Frontier Day, " which is apparently a new holiday which could be seen in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Potentially, Picard season 3 may see the end of the current Enterprise.

9 Seven Of Nine

Seven of Nine's current status didn't receive a significant update from @startreklogs, although it noted that both Admiral Picard and Admiral Janeway helped commission Seven of Nine for Starfleet. Commander Seven is currently the First Officer of the USS Titan-A, but Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas previously revealed that Seven was "placed into an accelerated Starfleet program against her own judgment." This hints that Seven may still be questioning whether she belongs in Starfleet.

8 Raffi Musiker

Starfleet Intelligence Specialist Commander Raffaela Musiker' s background was revealed in Star Trek: Picard season 1, but @startreklogs notes her personal status is "classified." In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Raffi was temporarily assigned as Operations Officer aboard the USS Excelsior, but she has apparently left the ship. As of Star Trek: Picard season 3, Raffi's current status is also "classified" and her whereabouts are "unknown."

According to @startreklogs, "Rumors suggest" Raffi "has left Starfeet entirely." Raffi may be dealing with the personal problems and addictions that plagued her life and career, and she still yearns to reunite with her estranged husband, son, and half-Romulan granddaughter. Curiously, @startreklogs offers no update on the romantic relationship between Raffi and Seven of Nine that blossomed in Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2.

Related: Geordi's Daughters In Picard Honot Both La Forge TNG Roles

7 Geordi La Forge

One of the TNG characters who didn't appear in Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) is revealed to have been promoted to Commodore as of Picard season 3. Commodore La Forge was "given a series of special assignments by Starfleet Command." One of those assignments was overseeing the construction of the rescue fleet to save the Romulans from the supernova. Geordi's current status going into Star Trek: Picard season 3 is unknown, but his daughters now also serve in Starfleet. Ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) is the helmsman of the USS Titan-A, and Ensign Alandra La Forge (Mica Burton) is an engineer like her father.

6 Dr. Beverly Crusher

According to @startreklogs, Dr. Beverly Crusher (who also holds the rank of Commander) left the USS Enterprise-E and resigned from Starfleet to provide private medical services aboard her own starship, the SS Eleos. As this happened up to 20 years before the events of Star Trek: Picard season 3 , and Beverly was not mentioned in the prior two seasons, Dr. Crusher's current whereabouts are "unknown." However, it is already known that Beverly comes under attack by Captain Vadic, and Jean-Luc Picard's mission to rescue her kicks off the action in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Worf is now a Starfleet Captain, as confirmed by @startreklogs. Worf resigned from his position seen at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Federation Ambassador to Kronos in order to return to the USS Enterprise-E in Star Trek: Nemesis . @startreklogs doesn't clarify that Worf replaced the late Commander Data (Brent Spiner) as the First Officer of the Enterprise-E, only that his service and "other assignments" resulted in his promotion to Captain.

@startreklogs also doesn't confirm if Worf was Captain of the Enterprise following Picard's promotion to Admiral. Instead, Worf's time aboard the Enterprise-E was "brief" and he "stepped down after the incident above Kriliar Prime." Worf's "whereabouts since then are classified," adding further mystery to Star Trek's greatest Klingon character.

Related: Worf's TNG & DS9 Klingon Problems Explained

4 Deanna Troi

Commander (and former Counselor) Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) doesn't receive much in the way of new information from @startreklogs. It's already known that Troi and her husband, Captain Will Riker, retired from Starfleet and moved to the planet Nepenthe with their now-deceased son, Thaddeus, and their daughter Kestra (Lulu Wilson). Troi was last seen in Star Trek: Picard season 1, but she "continues to hold a rank in Starfleet should her expertise be needed."

3 Will Riker

The formerly retired Captain Will Riker returned to active Starfleet duty at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1, as confirmed by @startreklogs. Riker was last seen in command of the USS Zheng-He, and his armada repelled a Romulan invasion force seeking to annihilate the Synths of the planet Coppelius. Prior to Star Trek: Picard season 3, Riker "continues his role in Starfleet, having lent his expertise on the new Titan refit."

Lore (Brent Spiner) was last seen to be deactivated and dismantled in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7 episode, "Descent, Part II," but @startreklogs finally reveals what happened to the evil brother of Data: Lore's "mind and body were stored in Daystrom Station along with the rest of the late Altan Soong's research." This means that Dr. Altan Inigo Soong, who was introduced in Star Trek: Picard season 1, is dead in season 3. Lore is back in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but how and why he was rebuilt remains to be seen.

1 Jean-Luc Picard

Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is the focal point of Star Trek: Picard and @startreklogs has nothing significant or new to add about him. However, it's interesting that Picard's synthetic body is referred to by @startreklogs as "almost human," while also noting that "Picard is exactly who he was" prior to his death from a rare brain disease. Whether questions about Jean-Luc Picard's humanity will factor into Star Trek: Picard season 3 remains to be seen.

More: Picard Season 3 Is The Biggest Star Trek Event In 28 Years

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres Thursday, February 16th, on Paramount+.

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Zheng He & Other Ships in the Star Trek: Picard Finale Explained

Here’s what we know about the Zheng He and other ships in the Star Trek: Picard finale.

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Warning: This Star Trek: Picard article contains MAJOR spoilers for the season finale.

Despite praying to the Trekkie gods, a new version of the USS Enterprise did not appear in the finale of Star Trek: Picard . But, we did get fairly huge new vision of what Starfleet looks like in in the year 2399. But, what’s up with Riker’s flagship? Where does the name Zheng He come from? Are all the ships in this fleet identical? And, most importantly, is that the bridge of the USS Discovery ? 

Here’s everything we know about Riker’s fleet in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Picard , “Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2.”

“Zheng He” could reference the origin of the phrase “Star Fleet”

Riker says that the USS Zheng He is the “fastest, toughest” Starfleet vessel ever to be put into service. And it appears, that every other ship in the fleet is exactly the same. But are they, really? Here’s the facts so far… 

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In real life, Zheng He was a 15th-century Chinese mariner and fleet admiral. In fact, one fleet of sailing ships he commanded, the treasure fleet, was one of the first known group of ships to use star charts and constellations for navigation. In this sense, Zheng He commanded a “Star Fleet.” 

In the context of Star Trek: Picard , this is the second time a historical mariner and sailor’s name has been given to a starship. Rios’ ill-fated ship, the USS Ibn Mājid , was named for 13th century Arabian navigator. Fans have also pointed out that another version of the USS Zheng He existed in the MMORPG, Star Trek: Online .  But, that USS Zheng He was warping around in 2270, making it possible, that Riker’s new Zheng He is possibly just one of several Starfleet ships that have had that name over the years. 

What kind of ship is the Zheng He ?

According to the fan-run Star Trek Wiki, Memory Alpha, the Zheng He is a the same class of ship as the USS Ibn Mājid — both are part of the Curiosity-Class . If true, this would mean this particular class of Starfleet ship has been around for at least nine years. However, Memory Alpha might be jumping the phaser a tiny bit. In his Instagram talkbacks , Chabon simply said that many ships in the Curiosity-Class are named for historical navigators. As of this writing, it’s not clear if that automatically means the Zheng He is of the same class as the Ibn Mājid, though it might be. Chabon also said on Instagram that “ZH is brand new.” 

That said, fans of Star Trek: Online have also pointed out the ships in the new fleet feel like blends of the Odyssey and Avenger- class ships seen exclusively in the game. 

The bottomline is this: When asked directly about the specs of the Zheng He , Chabon replied, “gathering data…” and “preparing a report.” 

TLDR: We don’t actually know . Yet.

Was the fleet of ships really that big? (And were they all the same?)

Because Riker’s fleet warped in right after La Sirean duplicated its sensor image artificially, you might have thought that maybe Riker pulled something similar. But, on Instagram, Chabon made one thing clear. The fleet was big, saying: “No trickery!”

Also, while a lot of the ships look the same, Michael Chabon said on Instagram that he can nearly “confirm there are four different classes” of starships on screen. The are not all the same kind of ship, even though, at a glance, it seems that way.

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Okay, but that bridge set was just the same bridge as the USS Discovery set, only gussied-up, right?

The Captain’s chair Riker sits in does look a lot like the captain’s chair of the USS Discovery , a ship that was in service over a century before the events of Star Trek: Picard . That said, it’s not entirely clear if this was a classic re-use of a set, or not. Historically, the Star Trek franchise has done this a lot. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , several sets for The Next Generation were re-used for the Enterprise-A . So, did something similar happen here with the bridge of the Zheng He ? 

The short answer is: probably . The popular site TrekCore has stated outright that this is the case. But it’s not clear. The chair certainly looks the same!

Could the Enterprise-E have been out there in that armada?

The answer to this is… probably not. But keep dreaming! 

Star Trek: Picard is streaming now on CBS All Access

Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! He is also the author of three non-fiction books: the Star Trek pop history book PHASERS…

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Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

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Episodes 30

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• Seven of Nine

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• Trivia The Chateau Picard vineyard first appeared in Family (1990) . It was run by Jean-Luc Picard's brother Robert and his wife Marie, and their son René. Jean-Luc would learn in Star Trek: Generations (1994) that Robert and René had both burned to death in a fire, leaving Jean-Luc as the last in the Picard line.
• Goofs Commodore Oh often wears sunglasses. Star Trek lore establishes that Vulcans have an inner eyelid to protect against harsh sunlight on their desert planet. Oh's shades are a fashion statement, not a protective measure.
• The first season features a Borg cube and the planet Romulus.
• The second season features a Borg ship, a wormhole and hourglass, and the Borg Queen's silhouette.
• The third season does not have an opening titles sequence.
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Saturday 24 April 2021

Eaglemoss previews latest picard and sto ship models, plus a look ahead at build the uss enterprise-d.

Eaglemoss have previewed several forthcoming ships in their various starship model collections, including the latest from Picard , Star Trek Online , and the huge Build the Enterprise project. Continue below to check out the latest ships:

The newest announced issue in the  Star Trek Universe  starships collection (ad)  confirms the " Romulan Vessel " (ad)  (previously referred to with the pithier name Romulan Bomber Warbird) as issue five in the so far Picard dominated series, which will eventually include ships from all the currently in production live action series. Eaglemoss have released several new images of this neat W-shaped Romulan ship, the first of the Romulan fleet seen in Picard . We can expected to arrive in July.

And parts already in the hands of subscribers to the series, give the bridge section of the saucer, a nacelle, and deflector dish:

Alternatively look for individual releases via the  Eaglemoss' web-shop in the US (ad)  and the UK . For discounted pre-orders, check Things For Another World (ad)  too, who normally offer a 20% pre-order discount.

Really looking forward to more STO ships. But, man, they're really behind on a bunch of those special issues.

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Captain Picard Bundle

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The promotional image for the Captain Picard Bundle

Contents [ | ]

This pack contains the following items that are account unlocked (i.e. available for every character on an account):

• Miradorn Theta Heavy Raider (T6)
• Galaxy Exploration Cruiser Retrofit (T5)
• Constellation Heavy Cruiser Refit (T3)
• Galaxy (2368) Ship Interior
• Open Jacket Uniforms
• The Next Generation Season One Uniform
• The Next Generation Series Uniform
• All Good Things Uniform

And, the following items that are character unlocked (i.e. only available for the character that purchases the bundle):

• 1x Starship Upgrade Requisition (Tradable)
• 1x Replica Thompson Submachine Gun
• 1x Privateer Outfit

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• Announcing: The Picard Bundle!, 13 January 2020
• 2 Playable starship
• 3 Infinity Prize Pack - T6 Ship

Star Trek: Jean-Luc Picard's Best Friends

• Jean-Luc Picard formed lifelong bonds with various individuals, both romantic and professional, who influenced his eventful life in different ways.
• Picard's relationship with Raffi Musiker was troubled but integral to protecting the Federation from threats like the Borg and the Romulans.
• Despite their love/hate relationship, Q and Picard shared a special bond, with Q choosing to spend his apparent last moments with Picard.

Jean-Luc Picard is one of Star Trek 's most famous characters, second only to James T. Kirk . After assuming command of the Starship Enterprise in 2263, Picard honored the Starfleet mission statement by seeking out new life and new civilizations, including the Borg, the Tamarians, and the powerful Q Continuum. Yet while Picard was an excellent commander, his stoic nature limited his social life aboard the Galaxy -class Enterprise -D during his appearances in the Star Trek franchise.

RELATED: Star Trek: The Picard Maneuver, Explained

Despite his somewhat introverted personality, Picard formed lifelong bonds with several individuals. Some of these relationships bordered on the romantic, while others were purely professional. However, each came to influence Picard's eventful life in their own way.

Picard's Mentor At Starfleet Academy

• Played by Ray Walston

Boothby, a groundskeeper at Starfleet Command , served as a mentor to many cadets who attended the nearby Starfleet Academy, including Jean-Luc Picard. Boothby could be relied upon for excellent advice and even helped to save Picard's career after the young cadet was nearly kicked out of the Academy.

Boothby was such a fixture of Starfleet Command that the mysterious Species 8472 created a replicant of the gardener as part of a training simulation in the Delta Quadrant. Nor was Boothby's guidance limited to Picard; he also provided boxing lessons to a young Chakotay.

Picard's Most Influential Professor

• Played by Normal Lloyd

Jean-Luc Picard's penchant for archeology was encouraged by Galen, one of his professors at Starfleet Academy . The two men were so close that Picard stated that Galen was like a father to him, although they grew apart when Picard chose a career in Starfleet over a life as an archeologist.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard's Biggest Mistakes & Failures

Picard and Galen reconnected in 2369, although the former was soon assassinated by Cardassian-backed forces. This convinced Picard to finish his mentor's work, leading to the discovery of a shared evolutionary history for many of the galaxy's species, including the Klingons, Cardassians, and even the human race itself.

Raffi Musiker

One of picard's most resourceful allies.

• Played by Michelle Hurd

Raffaela "Raffi" Musiker worked with Jean-Luc Picard to evacuate Romulan civilians from their devastated region of space. However, interference from Starfleet and several clandestine groups caused Raffi to grow increasingly paranoid. Despite her difficulties, Picard sought her out in 2399 as he knew that he could rely on her to help him with his investigations into an apparent Romulan conspiracy.

The resulting investigation vindicated Raffi and restored her friendship with Picard, which had become strained by their respective departures from Starfleet. Raffi's relationship with Picard, while routinely troubled, proved integral to protecting the Federation from threats like the Borg and the Romulans, and it is therefore fitting that she joined the crew of the Enterprise -G in 2402 as the starship's executive officer.

Picard's Surrogate Son

• Played by Evan Evagora

Picard first met Elnor while assisting in the evacuation of Romulan space following a devastating supernova. Although Picard had frequently clashed with the Romulans during his time aboard the Starship Enterprise , he spent a significant amount of time with the young Romulan, acting as the child's father figure. However, their relationship grew strained after Picard was called back to Federation space as a result of the 2385 Synth attack on Mars.

RELATED: Star Trek: The Relationship Between Vulcans & Romulans, Explained

However, the two eventually reconciled, and Elnor was able to utilize the training he'd undertaken as a member of the sword-wielding Qowat Milat to assist Picard against a Romulan secret society, the Zhat Vash. Elnor later joined Starfleet thanks to Picard's guidance.

Picard's Best Frenemy

• Played by John de Lancie

It may be more accurate to describe Q's friendship with Picard as a love/hate relationship, as the powerful entity often caused mischief aboard the Enterprise -D. However, Picard's apparent dislike of Q concealed a deeper feeling that, at points, came close to friendship. Q did help Picard throughout his life, such as by showing him how his recklessness as a young man was integral to his present success.

Indeed, Q chose to spend his apparent last moments with Picard rather than die alone. This final wish demonstrated that, for all of their mutual animosity, both Q and Picard recognized their special bond.

William Riker

Picard's right-hand man.

• Played by Jonathan Frakes

Picard and Riker's relationship was initially frosty; shortly after the executive officer came aboard the Enteprise -D, Picard challenged him to manually dock the starship's saucer to its secondary hull, a difficult test of skill. However, the two men warmed to one another during their years aboard the Enterprise , and Picard was one of the guests at Riker's wedding to Deanna Troi in 2379.

However, Riker did not let his friendship with Picard blind him when faced with tough dilemmas. When Picard was assimilated by the Borg in 2366, Riker did not hesitate to open fire on the Borg cube, even though the action endangered Picard. Their relationship was always secondary to their dedication to Starfleet and the Federation, but Riker and Picard demonstrated one of Star Trek 's best working relationships.

Picard's Closest Confidante

• Played by Whoopi Goldberg

The mysterious Guinan was far more than just the bartender aboard the Enterprise -D. As an El-Aurian , she had seen her home planet destroyed by the Borg, and recognized the threat posed by the Collective. This allowed her to offer counsel to Picard prior to the Enterprise 's disastrous encounter with the Borg in 2366. She attempted to assuage Picard's concerns that the Borg would overwhelm the Federation by pointing out the tenacity of life.

The exact nature of Guinan and Picard's relationship is shrouded in mystery (both describe it as being more than a friendship), as is its origin. The pair pretended to have met aboard the Enterprise -D, although Guinan joined the starship on Picard's request. One questionably canon novel suggested that their first meeting involved an encounter with Cardassian master spy Enabran Tain. However, regardless of its foundation, Guinan and Picard's friendship is one of the franchise's firmest.

Picard's Android Savior

• Played by Brent Spiner

While Data's closest friend throughout The Next Generation was undoubtedly engineer Geordi La Forge , both the TNG movies and Star Trek: Picard emphasized the friendship between Picard and the android Commander Data. When the Borg attempted to alter the course of history, Data resisted the Borg Queen's offer of an alliance and saved Picard's life. He would repeat this act in 2379, when Data sacrificed himself to save Picard from the destruction of the Scimitar .

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard's Synthetic Body, Explained

Data's sacrifice haunted Picard. In 2399, Picard encountered Data's simulated "ghost", allowing him to gain a measure of closure. A resurrected version of Data assisted Picard in his final battle against the Borg in 2401, demonstrating that not even death could stand in the way of their mutual admiration.

Beverly Crusher

The love of picard's life.

• Played by Gates McFadden

While Captain Kirk has gained a reputation as a ladies' man, Captain Picard stayed laser-focused on the Enterprise -D's exploratory mission throughout The Next Generation . However, he was interested in one particular woman: Doctor Beverly Crusher, the Enterprise -D's long-term chief medical officer . Their relationship was complicated by the fact that Picard had sent Beverly's husband to his death, which perhaps stopped their friendship from growing into something more during their time together aboard the Enterprise .

Despite the lack of romantic consolidation, Crusher was Picard's closest friend aboard the starship. They regularly ate breakfast together and relied on one another for advice in times of need. For example, Crusher sought advice from Picard during her romance with the Trill diplomat Odan. Star Trek: Picard hinted at a more romantic, if short-lived, relationship between the pair, although, for the most part, they were simply very close friends.

MORE: Best Picard Quotes In Star Trek: The Next Generation