Hello, all, Ric here once more heading back to look at a vessel that’s been a long time coming.
Before the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet existed as the primary arm of space exploration
of the United Earth before it was folded into the new interstellar government in 2161. The
premier achievement of this organisation in a technical standpoint, was the culmination
of the Warp 5 program, the NX class Starship. The real origins of the class were to be the
main vessel of the prequel Star Trek show, Enterprise, which was consistently set in a
period of time far before the original series. In fact the initial series was possibly to be
set on Earth for the majority, with season one following the construction of the starship,
however a more traditional setting was decided on, so the vessel was launched with the start of the
show. The interiors were designed to be roomy yet still evoke the feel of a submarine, while looking
both like a more rudimentary version of the original series and maintaining an aesthetic that
did not look as if it was pulled from the 50s. Externally, when creating concepts for the vessel,
Doug Drexler and Foundation Imaging was told to not go for the obvious and to try new things. Some
of these designs looked radically different from the familiar vessels of Star Trek, while others
retained the silhouette. One option was to have the vessel coloured bronze, again to differentiate
it, but this was changed back to the traditional grey. John Eaves was initially brought on board
to the project for concept art and created dozens of ideas before Drexler continued the work with 3D
concepts. Eventually the decision was made to make the Enterprise a single hull piece with nacelles,
which informed the design process going on. The design that was chosen was based on a
flipped Akira class, which suited the brief of creating a familiar looking vessel,
complete with all the iconic elements, but in a position that was seldom seen, and never yet on a
“hero ship”. TOS style elements were added around the vessel, such as sensor domes and rotating
bussard collectors to create the evolutionary link to later ships. This design process is
flipped for the lore origin of the vessel, with the NX class informing Starfleet design going on.
In universe, the NX class was the product of iterations of engine designs and multiple new
technologies, the first of what I term a poster ship of Starfleet. In this role, it personified
the near pinnacle achievements of Starfleet at this time, much like the later Constitution,
Galaxy or Odyssey class starships. The mission of the NX project was to thoroughly test out the new
and only Warp 5 engine created by humans and be mankind's publicised first forays into the
exploration of what then, was considered deep space. The name Enterprise was assigned to the
first prototype of the class, with the rest of the line to be named after other Earth Shuttlecraft.
The NX-project itself began in 2119, however at its inception, the Enterprise was nothing more
than an ambiguous end goal. There were several prototypes that were designed to break warp 2,
while the NX-Delta broke Warp 3 in 2144 and the Freedom class exceeded Warp 4. The NX vessels were
all prototypes, up until this point, establishing the prefix NX as the prototype designation. The
actual prototype was launched in 2151, earlier than expected with several components not yet
installed. However these would be added in time and by the launch of the NX-02, the ship was more
well equipped. Interestingly, the entire line can be treated as a prototype in reality. Every
vessel constructed of the NX line was a massive project with some unique features and innovated
off the previous models based on feedback. The line therefore would continue to evolve,
even receiving a major overhaul with the birth of the Federation, the NX refit which would give rise
to the iconic profile of Starfleet vessels. The breakthrough for the NX class to sustain
high warp was found in the Symmetrical Warp Field Governor which was situated between the nacelles.
This was required because the nacelles, although the generators of the warp bubble,
needed to be in exact equilibrium to function without tearing the ship apart. This was the
result of numerous attempts in the past, so the governor effectively allowed for a slight
margin of error to be compensated for without the slighted variance leading to a catastrophic
imbalance and complete collapse. Boom. Over its operation lifetime, the initial
NX-01 acted as the testbed for many systems and received upgrades every few years. Phase
cannons were added, alongside photonic torpedoes and improved hull armour in terms of defence,
this was in response to the Xindi threat of 2153 while other improvements saw the deflector,
sensor and computer systems overhauled with more advancements. The NX-01 was a flurry of
innovations, changing its specs over its short lifetime. As were its sister ships.
The primary shipyard was Starfleet’s main San Francisco complex, with the Copernicus and
Algeciras facilities lending support with support from the United Earth Space Probe Agency. The NX
class was the largest vessel constructed by Starfleet at the time at 225 metres long,
135 wide and 33.3 metres tall across 7 decks and weighing 80,000 tons and was a sizable
investment for the growing Earth. So much so that the line had to be curtailed during the
Earth-Romulan War in favour of the older Intrepid and Daedalus class, but it was a much needed step.
The NX class had a crew of around 83 but had facilities to carry more as well as modest
diplomatic suites. However space was at a premium on this ship, with much technology
being bulkier than it would later become so it had less habitable internal volume.
The horizontal warp core was effectively a proven, but still temperamental design that
required consistent maintenance but the heart of the class. It’s funny after looking at all these
later timeline ships, to heap praise on a warp 5 engine, but at its time, the NX was the fastest
vessel Starfleet had ever produced, keeping up with most contemporary powers with the exception
of the Vulcans. The Cochrane-Archer Warp core was rated for warp 5 as a maximum, and it could
cruise at 4 for extended periods, while actually achieving warp 5.2 with a well maintained engine.
In comparison, the Intrepid class was pushing 3.5 at its time and the innovations unlocked through
the NX project were retroactively implemented into the fleet, with other ships being overhauled and
constructed with warp 5 cores. It also relied on 4 SBD impulse drives and was decently manoeuvrable.
The NX was armed with 3 phase cannons, which were the precursors to phaser technology,
basically the same thing. However, we have seen around 5 other locations that fire them. It also
housed 6 probe-torpedo launchers, four fore and two rear facing. Initially it only had a
complement of spatial torpedoes before being armed with photonic torpedoes later on. It’s
notable for having no deflector shielding, a technology that was still in its infancy within
Starfleet instead using polarised hull plating, a much more primitive method of attempting to
diffuse an energy weapon by breaking down its cohesion as it struck the hull then relying on
plating. More torpedo launchers were added later on as one of the many modifications to the class.
In terms of auxiliary craft, the NX-01 housed only 2 OTV-type K42 shuttle pods which were
dropped from its keel launch bay. Neither of these were warp capable. This is a limitation
of the scale of the vessel and Starfleet’s infancy with auxiliary craft being more
common later on. The ship itself was capable of atmospheric flight for extended periods and
could easily handle higher pressures however it was not capable of landing… outside of a crash.
It also had a sensor dome, which would be a commonly recurring apparatus in Starfleet
design and two cargo bay doors above and below on the saucer, and a third on the
rear which could open into space for loading. While the NX line was effectively decommissioned
with the founding of the Federation, later models appear to have been commissioned as the Columbia
or NX-refit subclass based on the influx of new technology from the alliance. The initial
NX line therefore only existed for 10 years and saw at least 4 canon vessels (16 in apocrypha),
which seems a very short lifespan, but as I said to begin with, the entire line was effectively
a prototype for what was to come. Starfleet too could be considered the test version of
the Federation Starfleet and the NX exemplified this innovation and development. In this light,
the NX class was less of a starship in its own right, and more of a decade long research and
development experiment that ended with the creation of the first wave of Federation
vessels. With no NX class, it is not hyperbole to say that there would have been no UFP.
It’s fantastic to see this time in the Star Trek universe, as the ship pioneered the later
developments that would become commonplace by the 23rd century and definitely a sad thing to see
the line end so soon. Aside from the secondary hull overhaul, there was another major refit
planned to grant them new duranium frames, but the rate of innovation was outstripping the NX
class leading to its retirement. While the NX was foundational to the creation of the United
Federation of Planets, the emergence of this alliance was the death knell to the NX class.
Unequivocally the most important class in Star Trek lore, it’s a fantastic vessel that served
in far greater capacities than expected of it, and it already had a lot riding on its shoulders.
Thanks for watching this breakdown of the NX class starship, there is a lot more that
I could go into, breaking down the origin of the class in real life as well as the entire
in universe project so let me know if those are topics you would be interested in. Until then,
thanks for watching and I’ll see you later for another video, goodbye!