The starship Enterprise made its debut in 1966, and few probably realized at the time that it would become arguably the most iconic space vessel in science fiction. Its saucer, body, and dual nacelle configuration has remained largely unchanged across a dozen shows, with subsequent starships all paying homage to the original one commanded by one of the best captains in the franchise, James T. Kirk. But if it were a real starship, the cost to construct it would be absolutely mind-boggling. As calculated by Gizmodo, construction and launch of the USS Enterprise in real life would run a staggering $478,947,711,160 — which, believe it or not, is less than 13% of the United States defense budget (or war budget, now).

Admittedly, this sum covers the building of the USS Enterprise seen in the JJ Abrams-directed reboot films, which is far more advanced and heavily armed than the original 1960s version of the starship. Nevertheless, it’s clear that any version of the Enterprise is going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, with the largest expense, over $456 billion, drawn from the actual assembly of the ship, and not the raw materials.

Of course, much of the technology required to build the Enterprise doesn’t exist. Whether it’s the warp engines, the plasma coils, the photon torpedoes, phasers, or transporters, there’s no way to know for certain just how expensive they would be. The price could run into the trillions, assuming such technology is even invented. It’s entirely possible that humanity will never have the money or tech to build anything like the Enterprise.

While a hypothetically real USS Enterprise would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to construct, building the model that was used to film the original “Star Trek” series didn’t cost quite that much. But it wasn’t a small expense either, coming in at around $6,000 (roughly $60,000 today). In-universe, the ship has a long and impressive history: It weighs in at a massive 190,000 tons and measures 947 feet long. In reality, the original model is a little more than 11 feet long and weighs roughly 200 pounds.

Designed by production artist Matt Jeffries, the model used to create many of the exterior shots of the USS Enterprise from 1966-1969 was made from a variety of materials, with the bulk of the ship made of poplar wood and vacu-formed plastic. Following the show’s cancellation, the model was surprisingly not destroyed and wound up on display at Golden West College in Huntington Beach in 1972. Two years later, the model was donated to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum after an inquiry from Apollo astronaut Michael Collins, and it has remained there ever since. Over the years, it has undergone multiple renovations to restore it to its original glory, in 1982, 1992 (after which it was reportedly insured for $1,000,000), and once again in 2014.

A second, 33-inch model, used for the opening credits, was lost to history until it resurfaced in 2024, and is now valued in the millions — which is still just the lunch tab for construction of the real thing.