Shenzhou Class
The Shenzhou-class surveyor is a well-equipped, modern starship designed for exploring planets on the edge of known space. Sharing a lineage with the Walker, Georgiou, and Lancelot classes, this class is named for the starship Shenzhou, which was lost at the Battle of the Binary Stars. Larger than other surveyor classes, the Shenzhou is fully prepared to defend itself and has excellent range, while also maintaining the ability to routinely travel within planetary atmospheres. As with the Walker, the Shenzhou is unique in that its bridge is located on the underside of the primary hull to offer command crews the ability to directly observe planetary phenomena.
Science and Exploration
Shenzhou-class starships are first and foremost designed as planetary surveyors. Their primary mission is to seek out and study habitable planets both for colonization purposes and to make contact with new civilizations. As such, their sensors and labs are optimized for studying lifeforms, geological formations, ancient ruins, among other things relevant to the study of planets. The primary sensor dome is mounted directly under the bridge and is capable of mapping a planet's surface with extreme precision. The long-range sensor array is mounted surrounding the deflector on the top of the saucer section and it is tuned to locating habitable planets at far-off distances. 24 sensor pallets are located just above the lower phaser array on the underside of the saucer, positioned for optimal angles to study planets or other objects below the ship.
With twice as many labs as a Nova-class surveyor, a Shenzhou won't necessarily complete a planetary survey faster than its smaller counterpart, but it can bring twice as many scientific perspectives to bear to allow for a richer and more complete picture of a world. Additional misson-configurable lab space is available for secondary mission teams, though there is far less of this space than on dedicated research cruisers.
The Shenzhou has a set of eight vertical launch tubes identical to the system found aboard Gagarin-class heavy escorts. This system is used to launch probes and exploratory drones, which are often used in the first phase of studying a new planet. Ships of this class carry the equipment to manufacture new probes, as well as small observation facilities such as the so-called "duck blind" bunkers used to observe pre-warp civilizations.
Shenzhou-class starships can carry enough supplies to sustain three-year charting missions without support, a significant improvement over the Nova. This makes it an excellent candidate for independent exploration missions.
Diplomacy
Given their intended role on the periphery of explored space, Shenzhou-class vessels are equipped with sufficient diplomatic facilities to perform first contact missions when necessary. Their sophisticated suite of information-gathering equipment is a double-edged sword: they can collect massive amounts of data about a civilization to make first contact go more smoothly, but the presence of these systems can be seen as intrusive or even hostile by species concerned about their privacy. As these ships are designed to learn everything learnable about habitable worlds, they are better sent to planets without sapient life, or at least without warp-capable sapient life. A Shenzhou captain might even feel compelled to share the full readout of their ship's sensors with a planet's inhabitants for the sake of transparency.
Engineering
Using similar components as the Gagarin-class heavy escort, Shenzhou-class starships do not have a full secondary hull and instead contain nearly all mission-critical systems within the primary hull. There is a small underslung pod between the nacelles that contains the ship's forward torpedo launchers, as well as cargo holds. The warp core runs through the center of the ship, as on the Gagarin, and is tuned to balance simplified maintenance demands with performance for a solid, reliable design that's unlikely to win any sprinting contests. The impulse drive, however, is finely tuned for good performance within planetary systems, equipping the ship to explore asteroid belts and the moon systems of gas giants even in areas where there might be significant gravimetric distortions. There is a dedicated set of atmospheric thrusters on the ventral surface of the hull that allow the Shenzhou to routinely fly through planetary atmospheres to make low survey passes and bring her scientific instruments much closer than other starship types. Unlike the Nova, however, the Shenzhou is not capable of performing planetary landings.
The Shenzhou has a single shuttle bay on the stern, which is capable of supporting a good range of shuttles and runabouts that further enhance the ship's ability to conduct planetary surveys. This feature also allows the Shenzhou to deploy teams to scout ahead in nearby systems to help identify sites for further exploration, something that other surveyors aren't capable of.
Tactical
While classified as a surveyor, the Shenzhou is built with the realities of the frontier in mind and is well-armed. While the Gagarin is an escort-type vessel that can also serve in exploratory roles, a Shenzhou-class vessel is a science vessel that can serve as an escort in a pinch. Thirteen Type-XIV phaser arrays are positioned around the hull for comprehensive coverage, while four Type-XIV phaser cannons enhance the ship's forward firepower. Two of these cannons are located in the saucer section and two are located near the warp nacelles. The ship's arsenal is rounded out by four forward and two aft torpedo launchers. This comprehensive tactical array allows a Shenzhou-class ship to fight its way out of most situations on its own.
Part of Starfleet's calculations in building the Shenzhou was to increase the number of tactically-capable assets that are pre-positioned in far-flung locations to respond to potential threats. The same sensor arrays that make the Shenzhou an excellent science vessel can also easily ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of enemy vessels, paralleling the deep space tactical analysis role of ships like the Manticore. Their presence on the frontier further enhances the safety of other exploratory vessels and remote research stations. While they aren't intended to eliminate hardened targets on their own, Starfleet can be confident that a Shenzhou-class vessel can at least assess the situation and report back without too much risk to her crew.
Shipboard Life
Some science vessels aren't thrilling assignments for non-scientists, but Shenzhou-class starships are somewhat unique in that they're intended to chart the frontier with less of a safety net than surveyors often have. They're packed with the latest and greatest scientific equipment, giving them an atmosphere of being not just on the edge of space but of scientific advancement itself. With that being said, a significant amount of the ship's internal volume is taken up by those bleeding-edge tools and systems, so living quarters are relatively tight. As with other modern designs, most officers have a combined living and sleeping area, with only senior officers having the multi-room quarters that became standard during the mid-24th century. There are several mess halls and lounges with large viewports looking out into space, as the emphasis in this design is on communal recreation. This helps the crew bond as colleagues, as does the fact that each department has dedicated lab space so there are few competitions of who gets to use the ship's resources.
Medical facilities on the Shenzhou are compact but well-stocked, as a ship of this class might be far away from help in an emergency. They are not well-suited to respond to planetary-level medical emergencies, but they are more than capable of answering distress calls from passing vessels or rendering aid to smaller starships.
Shenzhou Class History
The design process proceeded quickly, as many systems in use aboard the Gagarin-class heavy escort were repurposed and rearranged for the Shenzhou, including the majority of the engine and tactical systems. The first Shenzhou-class starships began production in 2400, with the initial units leaving the yard in late 2401.
Shenzhou Class In-Play
- This is a modern version of the Walker-class starship, as seen in the pilot of Star Trek: Discovery. We saw the Shenzhou out on the edges of explored space performing exploratory missions, and the unique underslung bridge appears to be meant to give the crew a good look at whatever the ship happens to be orbiting.
- While they are larger than other surveyors, the trend in Starfleet shipbuilding in the early 25th century is for larger designs in general, and much of the mass of this ship is taken up by scientific equipment, so they wouldn't necessarily feel like the "big" ships of the mid-24th century like the Galaxy.
- The niche for this class is a science vessel that's capable of exploring on its own for extended periods of time with the ability to fight its way out of rough situations, which is unlike the smaller Nova and Grissom-class surveyors, which have shorter ranges and smaller crews. They're also a greater investment of resources than these smaller ships, so they're more likely to get the most interesting surveys.
- This is a good choice for stories where you want the freedom to tell both traditional Star Trek stories of exploration as well as action.