 The Enterprise NX @-@ 01 was designed by Doug Drexler , and based on the features of the Akira @-@ class . The new class itself was designated as NX by the producers , but Drexler referred to it as the Enterprise class due to the naval tradition of naming the class after the first vessel . Drexler had intended for the ship to be similar in design to the Daedalus @-@ class starship with a sphere @-@ shaped primary hull , but the producers wanted a flat saucer @-@ shaped hull as it was more immediately recognizable as a Star Trek vessel . Drexler deliberately attempted to insert references to The Original Series into the ship . One of these was narrow struts leading from the body of the ship to the warp nacelles – however Dan Curry wanted them made bulkier as seen in ships of later series . Drexler included a leading edge at the front of the nacelles , and later described that the original struts would have been around a third more than those . 
