Page "USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)" Paragraph 8

The Enterprise-D is first seen in the episode " Encounter at Farpoint " under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Several episodes, as well as the ship's dedication plaque, establish that the Enterprise was built at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in orbit around Mars.

The Enterprise-D is the third Galaxy class starship, after the pathfinder ship USS Galaxy ( from which the Galaxy class takes its name ) and the USS Yamato.

The dedication plaque gives its commissioning date as 40759. 5, which was intended to represent October 4, 2363, which would be the 406th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, humanity's very first spacecraft.