Space Shuttle Enterprise was unveiled during NASA’s 1976 Bicentennial celebrations.
NASA held the rollout ceremony for the first Space Shuttle on September 17, 1976, the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. The vehicle was named Enterprise, honoring the fictional starship from the television series Star Trek after a public campaign encouraged that choice.
Enterprise was a test vehicle rather than an operational shuttle. It was built without the engines and heat-shield systems needed for orbital missions and was used for ground testing, atmospheric approach-and-landing tests, and related development work.
NASA had considered the name Constitution, which would have directly matched the Bicentennial theme. The agency instead selected Enterprise, linking the new spacecraft to popular culture and to a name associated with earlier U.S. naval vessels. Enterprise never flew in space, unlike Columbia, the first operational shuttle to reach orbit.