Enterprise was rolled out during the 1976 Bicentennial as NASA’s first Space Shuttle orbiter.
The orbiter was rolled out on September 17, 1976, in Palmdale, California. NASA originally gave the test vehicle the name Constitution, but it was renamed Enterprise after a major letter-writing campaign by Star Trek fans and other supporters of the name.
Enterprise was built for atmospheric approach-and-landing tests rather than orbital missions. It lacked functioning main engines and a heat shield capable of surviving reentry, so it never traveled into space. Instead, it was later released from a modified Boeing 747 during a series of glide tests.
Columbia was the first operational Space Shuttle to fly into orbit, in 1981. That distinction explains a common mix-up: Enterprise was the first orbiter built and tested, but Columbia was the first spaceflight orbiter. Enterprise’s 1976 rollout connected NASA’s future-looking shuttle program with the national Bicentennial year.