The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship

Starship

A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....

 in the Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 media franchise. The original Star Trek series

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...

 depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James T. Kirk

James T. Kirk

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...

. The ship's basic design "formed the basis for one of sci-fi's most iconic images". A refit version of the ship appears in the first three Star Trek films. The 2009 Star Trek film, which takes place in an "alternate, parallel" timeline, includes a redesigned version of the Enterprise.
Star Trek art Director Matt Jefferies

Matt Jefferies

Walter Matthew Jefferies — known as Matt Jeffries — was an aviation and mechanical artist, set designer and writer, best known for designing the original Starship Enterprise for the Star Trek television series....

 designed the original Enterprise, which in series creator Gene Roddenberry

Gene Roddenberry

Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...

's first series outline drafts was named Yorktown.