The Constellation-class is a starship type with four warp nacelles that was first commissioned around 2280. Warp nacelles and several components of the saucer section are essentially identical to the Constitution and Miranda classes. Constellation-class ships are outdated and seem to have been decommissioned prior to 2370.
Unlike the inaccurate drawing in the Star Trek Encyclopedias I and II the Constellation image shown here (scanned from the Star Trek Fact Files) considers the fact that the warp engines are nearly the same as of the Constitution and Miranda classes, slightly modified at their rear ends, but definitely not of a smaller type. Consequently, the Constellation has to be much longer than specified in the Encyclopedia. This is also consistent with the studio model, recently letterd as USS Valkyrie, which was shown in various Star Trek exhibitions in Europe.
The NCC-7100 is the number of the yellow Constellation model in Picard's office which may have been intended to represent the Stargazer, but is clearly overruled by the NCC-2893 on the actual Stargazer model. Thus, we may assume that the yellow model represents a different ship. The real reason for the "NCC-7100" is that it may be easily created from "NCC-1701". |
