What does the NCC really mean in the Star Trek franchise?

As previously explained on the /Film pages, The “USS” in USS Enterprise stands for “United Starship”. It was extrapolated from the US Navy’s recent use of “USS” on its naval ships. Here on Earth, it stands for “US Ark”.

But what does the “NCC” in NCC-1701 stand for? As all good cruisers know, NCC-1701 is the registration number for the USS Enterprise and is written in capital letters all over the ship’s exterior. Other ships, of course, have their own registration numbers. In “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, which is set a century after the original series, the register is updated to NCC-1701-D. The spacecraft in “Star Trek: Voyager” had registration number NCC-74656, while the registration number of the Discovery spaceship in “Star Trek: Discovery” was NCC-1031.

Registration numbers are a cool, whimsical way to add an element of reality to a fantasy sci-fi show like “Star Trek.” The consistency between the spacecraft’s registration numbers suggests that there is a vast and complex bureaucracy off-screen, and that thousands and thousands of people have to make sure the spacecraft is up and running and tracked accurately. If you think registering a car at the DMV requires a lot of paperwork, imagine how complicated it would be to build a faster-than-light spaceship armed with torpedoes and photon torpedoes. The fact that there may be a lot of mundane paperwork ahead makes “Star Trek” that much more relatable.

So, what does “NCC” actually stand for? When that happens, it doesn’t represent anything. At least not in the canonical “Star Trek.” There was no on-screen explanation of the registration letters. One has to look to the extended universe lore (such as novels and sourcebooks) to find the answer.

In 1975, a company called Franz Josef Designs published “Star Trek blueprints” Which served as the official art manual for the original USS Enterprise when the “Star Trek” fandom was booming. It was a folder filled with 12 incredibly detailed plans showing the construction map of the entire interior and exterior of the ship. Trekkies have been thinking about these schemes for 50 years. Did you know there’s a bowling alley on Enterprise? Later versions of “Star Trek” created essentially similar charts, often featuring interior charts in prominent positions on the screen.

According to the 1975 plans, the NCC abbreviation was “Naval Construction Contract”.

But the Enterprise’s design predates those plans by about a decade. What did the organization’s initial designer intend?

The original enterprise model Designed by production designer and model maker Matt Jeffries, and He spoke with StarTrek.com in 2001 To discuss the reasoning behind the NCC prefix. Jeffries revealed that he only transferred World War II-era American aircraft registration codes. The state registration code for an aircraft in the United States is the letter “N.” Before 1948, this letter would be followed by a secondary initial to indicate vehicle use. NP was used on private aircraft, NS was used for government aircraft, NL was used for limited aircraft, and NC was used for commercial aircraft.

So “NC” was just a country code with the second “C” standing for “Commercial”.

But why include the second “C”? Jeffries admitted that he liked the (now retired) CCCP designation on Soviet aircraft and just applied the second “C” for aesthetic reasons. For those who are not familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet, “CCCP” is actually the Russian abbreviation for “Союз Советский Социалистических Республик” or, translated, Confederation of Republics Soviet socialism.

Occasionally throughout “Star Trek,” one may see a ship that does not carry the usual NCC registration and instead bears an NX designation. This was first seen in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” with the introduction of the USS Excelsior. That vessel’s registration was NX-2000, and the vessel was said to be a completely new prototype of a transaxle-engined vessel. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) becomes captain of the ship Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Later, in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, the USS Defiant was NX-74205. It was a prototype warship that, as explained in dialogue, was overpowered and not well designed. It is also one of the only Starfleet ships equipped with a cloaking device. The Defiant was commissioned for use under special circumstances, as DS9 was under threat from a new alien organization called the Dominion. The NX designation was most prominent in the film Star Trek: Enterprise, which was set a century before the events of the original Star Trek series. This show was about the first Starfleet ship from Earth to go on a deep space mission. The Enterprise in that series was designated NX-01, as it was also a prototype.

Then in “Star Trek: Miracle” The center ship, USS Protostar, had registration code NX-76884. This was the first ship to be equipped with a true protostar as part of its engine, allowing it to reach previously unheard of speeds. It was also unique. This time, the NX was taken directly from pre-1948 aircraft records, where the letter X was used for experimental vehicles. Flights could infer from the use of NX that spacecraft with this designation were also experimental.

Next time you’re at the “Star Trek” equivalent of the DMV, keep these designations in mind. It will only save you time in line.