What NCC Really Means In The Star Trek Franchise

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As previously explained in the pages of /Film, the "U.S.S." in U.S.S. Enterprise stands for "United Starship." It was extrapolated from the modern American Navy's use of "U.S.S." on its sea vessels. Here on Earth, it stands for "United States Ship."

But what does the "NCC" stand for in NCC-1701? As all good Trekkies know, NCC-1701 is the registry number for the U.S.S. Enterprise and is emblazoned in large letters all over the exterior hull of the ship. Other vessels, of course, have their own registry numbers. On "Star Trek: The Next Generation," set a century after the original series, the registry was updated to NCC-1701-D. The titular spacecraft on "Star Trek: Voyager" had a registry number of NCC-74656, while the spaceship Discovery on "Star Trek: Discovery" was NCC-1031.

Registry numbers are a wonderfully geeky way to add an element of reality into a fantastical sci-fi show like "Star Trek." The consistency among starship registry numbers implies that there is a vast and complicated off-screen bureaucracy at work, and that thousands upon thousands of people are required to make sure a starship functions and is accurately kept track of. If you think it takes a lot of paperwork to register a car at the DMV, imagine how much more complicated it would be to construct a fast-than-light spacecraft armed with phasers and photon torpedoes. The fact that there may be a lot of mundane paperwork in the future makes "Star Trek" that much more relatable.

So, what does the "NCC" actually stand for? As it so happens, it stands for nothing. At least not in canonical "Star Trek." There has never been an on-screen explanation for the registry lettering. One has to look to expanded universe lore (like novels and sourcebooks) to find the answer.

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Back in 1975, a company called Franz Joseph Designs published "Star Trek Blueprints," which served as an official technical guide for the original U.S.S. Enterprise right when "Star Trek" fandom was rolling high. It was a folder full of 12 incredibly detailed diagrams showing the construction map of the entire ship's interior and exterior. Trekkies have been poring over these blueprints for 50 years. Did you know there's a bowling alley on the Enterprise? Subsequent "Star Trek" spinoffs have made similar blueprints canonical, often featuring interior diagrams in prominently visible positions on-screen.

It was according to the 1975 blueprints that NCC stood for "Naval Construction Contract."

But the design of the Enterprise pre-dates those blueprints by almost a decade. What did the Enterprise's initial designer intend?

The original Enterprise model was designed by production designer and model-maker Matt Jefferies, and he spoke with StarTrek.com back in 2001 to discuss the reasoning behind the NCC prefix. Jefferies revealed that he merely ported over WWII-era United States aircraft registry codes. The aircraft country registration code for the U.S. happens to be the letter "N." Prior to 1948, that letter could be followed by a secondary initial to indicate the craft's use. NP was used on private planes, NS was used for state planes, NL was used for limited planes, and NC was used for commercial planes.

So "NC" was just a country code with the second "C" standing for "commercial."

But why include the second "C?" Jefferies admitted that he liked the (now retired) CCCP designation on Soviet aircraft and just tacked on a second "C" for aesthetic reasons. For those unfamiliar with the Cyrillic alphabet, "CCCP" is actually the Russian abbreviation for "Союз Советских Социалистических Республик," or, translated, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

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Occasionally throughout "Star Trek," one might see a ship that doesn't bear the usual NCC registration and instead has an NX designation. This was first seen in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" with the introduction of the U.S.S. Excelsior. That ship's registration was NX-2000, and the ship was said to be a brand-new prototype vessel with a transwarp drive. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) became captain of the Excelsior in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."

Later, on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," the U.S.S. Defiant was NX-74205. It was a prototype battleship that, as explained in dialogue, was overpowered and not terribly well-designed. It's also one of the only Starfleet vessels to be 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 even more prominent on "Star Trek: Enterprise," set a century before the events of the original "Star Trek" series. That show was about the very first Starfleet vessel from Earth to go on a deep space mission. The Enterprise on that series had a designation of NX-01, as it too was a prototype.

Then, on "Star Trek: Prodigy," the central ship, the U.S.S. Protostar, had a registration code of NX-76884. That was the first ship to be equipped with an actual protostar as a part of its engine, allowing it to reach unheard-of speeds. It was also one-of-a-kind. This time, the NX was taken directly from pre-1948 aircraft registries, as the letter X was used for experimental craft. Trekkies could glean from the use of NX that starships with the designation were also experimental. 

The 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.