As previously explained in the pages of /Film, The "USS" in USS Enterprise stands for "United Starship." It was extrapolated from the modern US Navy's use of "USS" on its naval vessels. Here on Earth, that means "Ship of the United States."

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

Serial numbers are an incredibly ingenious way to add an element of reality to a fantastic sci-fi show like Star Trek. The consistency between the star register numbers implies that there is a vast and complicated off-screen bureaucracy at work and that thousands and thousands of people are needed to make sure that the starship is functioning and accurately tracked. 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 build a faster-than-light spacecraft armed with phasers and photon torpedoes. The fact that there could be a lot of ordinary documents in the future makes Star Trek that much more relatable.

So what does "NCC" actually stand for? As it happens, it means nothing. At least not in canon Star Trek. There was never an on-screen explanation of the letters in the register. One has to look to the expanded universe (like novels and sourcebooks) to find the answer.

Back in 1975, a company called Franz Joseph Designs announced "Star Trek Boards" who served as the official technical guide for the original USS Enterprise just as Star Trek fandom was rolling high. It was a folder full of 12 incredibly detailed diagrams showing the construction map of the interior and exterior of the entire ship. Trekkies have been considering these plans for 50 years. Did you know there's a bowling alley on the Enterprise? Subsequent Star Trek spinoffs made similar blueprints canonical, often with internal diagrams in visible on-screen positions.

According to the 1975 drafts, NCC stands for "Naval Construction Contract".

But the Enterprise's design predates those plans by nearly a decade. What did the original designer of the Enterprise intend?

The original Enterprise model was designed by production designer and model maker Matt Jefferies, and he spoke to StarTrek.com back in 2001 to discuss the reasoning behind the NCC prefix. Jefferies revealed that he was merely passing on US WWII aircraft registry codes. The aircraft's country registration code for the USA is the letter "N". Prior to 1948, that letter could be followed by a secondary initial to indicate trade use. NP was used for private aircraft, NS was used for government aircraft, NL was used for restricted 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?" Jefferies admitted that he liked the (now retired) CCCP designation on Soviet aircraft and had just put the second "C" on for aesthetic reasons. For those unfamiliar with Cyrillic, "CCCP" is actually the Russian abbreviation for "Soyuz Советских Социалистический Республик" or, translated, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Occasionally a ship can be seen throughout Star Trek that does not carry the usual NCC registration and is instead marked NX. This was first seen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock with the introduction of the USS Excelsior. That ship's registration was NX-2000, and the ship was said to be a brand new prototype transwarp powered ship. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) became the captain of the Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Earth.

Later, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the USS Defiant was NX-74205. It was a prototype battleship that, as explained in the dialogue, was overpowered and not terribly well designed. It is also one of the only ships in Starfleet 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 tag 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 first Starfleet ship from Earth to go on a deep space mission. The Enterprise of that series was designated NX-01, as it was also a prototype.

Then, on Star Trek: The Prodigies, the center ship, the USS Protostar, had the registration number NX-76884. It was the first ship to be equipped with a true protostar as part of its engine, allowing it to reach unheard of speeds. It was also unique. This time, NX was taken directly from pre-1948 aircraft registries, as the letter X was used for experimental craft. From using the NX, Trekkies could tell that the stars with the tag were also experimental.

Next time you're at the Star Trek equivalent of the DMV, keep these signs in mind. It will only save you time in line.