Star Trek: Picard season 3's finale rechristened the USS Titan-A as the USS Enterprise-G, which breaks the myth that the bigger the Enterprise is, the better. Picard season 3 was essentially the origin of the newest Starship Enterprise and the rise of its Captain, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). The previous Titan was a Luna Class starship but the Titan-A was remodeled as a Constitution III Class (or Neo Constitution Class) starship. It's now clear the Titan was always meant to become the new Enterprise as the hero ship of Picard's proposed spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy.
Star Trek: Picard production designer Dave Blass recently Tweeted a size comparison chart of the Starfleet ships present during season 3's doomed Frontier Day celebration.
According to the chart, which also includes Galaxy Class ships like USS Enterprise-D, Sovereign Class ships like the USS Enterprise-E, and Odyssey Class ships like the USS Enterprise-F, it's clear that at 1839 feet in length, the Constitution III Class Enterprise-G is little more than half the size of its immediate predecessor, the Odyssey Class Enterprise-F, which was decommissioned following Frontier Day. But why should a smaller Enterprise be a problem?
Related: Every Enterprise In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Star Trek's Enterprise Doesn't Need To Be Starfleet's Biggest Ship
Presumably, upon its launch in 2402, a year after Star Trek: Picard season 3's Frontier Day, the USS Enterprise-G inherited the mantle of the flagship of the United Federation of Planets. It wasn't clarified in Picard's finale, but it's also assumed that the Enterprise-G's mission is the same as its predecessors: "to seek out new life and new civilizations" and "to boldly go where no one has gone before." Why would the newest Enterprise need to be larger than the Enterprise-F in order to accomplish this mission? Unlike the Enterprise-D, the G doesn't need to house 1000 people, and it won't have families aboard like Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) TNG starship. The Titan-A - now Enterprise-G - was designed as a deep-space exploratory vessel and is capable of exploring new worlds without being titanic in size.
It's true that the Enterprise has always trended larger throughout its history. The original Constitution Class Enterprise in the 23rd century was significantly larger than the 22nd century NX-01 in Star Trek: Enterprise. The Excelsior Class Enterprise-B and the Ambassador Class Enterprise-C gave way to the massive, Galaxy Class Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Sovereign Class Enterprise-E exceeded the D in length, if not overall size, and the Odyssey Class Enterprise-F clocked in at a huge 3478 feet in length. The Enterprise-G is the first to reverse this size arms race, but its virtues aren't in its size but in the Starfleet legacy embodied by its crew.
Picard's Enterprise-G Evoke's Kirk's Ship In The 25th Century
The USS Enterprise-G's design is a clear throwback meant to evoke the classic Constitution Class NCC-1701 Enterprise commanded by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in the 23rd century. Star Trek: Picard season 3's love for the Constitution Class was evident and vocalized by Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), who marveled at the "clean lines" of Kirk's Enterprise-A docked at the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime. Star Trek: Picard season 3 tapped the nostalgia buttons for the most beloved versions of the Starship Enterprise, culminating in the return of the Galaxy Class USS Enterprise-D in Picard season 3's finale.
If the USS Enterprise-G's sheer size, or relative lack thereof, is a step backward, the pedigree of its crew makes up for it. Captain Seven of Nine was taught by two of the best, Admirals Picard and Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), as well as her rules-adhering former commanding officer, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick). First Officer Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) also worked alongside Picard for years, and the new Special Counselor to the Captain, Ensign Jack Crusher, is the scion of Picard with a lifetime of experience in the dangerous regions of space with his mother, Admiral Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). The Enterprise-G's helmsman, Lt. Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut), is the daughter of Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and is one of Starfleet's top pilots. Size does matter in some respects, but Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Legacy's USS Enterprise-G more than compensates.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 is available to stream on Paramount+.
