New Constellation-class Ingame image - Star Trek: Armada 3 mod for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

Wooooaaaihhh Mmmmm Mmmmm

In Armada III, the Constellation is a triage cruiser. It stands by to repair other ships.

The button to close the door is all the way on the other side of the room and the Constellation is crewed by extraordinarily lazy Starfleet personnel.

In terms of lore, it is assumed that during the Dominion War, most existing Constellations were brought out of mothballs. These ships were gutted of the most obsolete components and upgraded to serve as 'Triage Cruisers', vessels designed to enact immediate repairs in the absence of starbase/dockyard facilities. Although not designed for frontline combat, they were certainly combat worthy, being the face of Starfleet's "Star Cruiser" Exploration Fleet during the last years of the 23rd century. The typical modifications that were enacted include: an expansion of shuttle and cargo bays to accommodate worker bees and other repair equipment, improved warp field coils, modern phaser emitters, and the replacement of the Constitution-style twin torpedo launchers with more modern single tube multi launchers. The differentiated communication and sensor pods on the underside of the hull were placed in identical housings with no reduction in efficiency thanks to improvements in miniaturization of components during the mid-24th Century.

Some were retired early, like the Hathaway, but many were shown to still be in service during the events of The Next Generation. The Enterprise rendezvoused with Constellation class ships on several occasions and more than one was present in the fleet that blockaded against Romulan interference in the Klingon Civil War. Like the Miranda they seemed to be older ships that found extended service life in a behind-the-lines support role, except unlike the Miranda they weren't re-furbished for combat when the Dominion threat rolled around.

As for the bay being open, why not? In combat the little repair ships/drones would need to launch, land and repeat rapidly.

> but many were shown to still be in service during the events of The Next Generation

I wouldn't say 'many', but there were a few.

I kind of summarized my thoughts on the class below.

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The Excelsior is the first of a new generation of ships, Generation 4, if we are counting from the the founding of the Federation. The Stargazer, based on its design, is solidly Generation 3 (TMP-era). This generation of vessels, with the sole exception of the Miranda, have been either retired, or are in the process of being retired by the time of the Dominion War. According to Picard, even in her heyday, the Stargazer was an "overworked, underpowered vessel, always on the verge of flying apart at the seams.", telling us that the class had significant problems. Indeed it would appear that the design was not built as a new class paradigm, but as a cheap derivative/holdover using existing ship components, focusing too much on propulsion and not enough in other realms. As an obvious explorer type, the Constellation may have been a cheaper alternative to the Excelsior refits, which I argue were some kind of "Elite" variant of the class (who themselves replaced the uncommon, but venerable and capable Constitutions). This would then explain the reluctance for Starfleet to keep the design in service - they were old, cobbled together, stop-gap ships that were deemed by their captains to be less than stellar in their role.

The Constellation slightly predates the Excelsior and, as Ambarenya says, was designed and built utilising existing technology. Unlike the Excelsior, there was no innovation in her design. If anything, she was designed as a replacement for the aging Constitution class. That said, in her heyday the Constellation served at the forefront of the Federation's exploration efforts, expanding and defending the frontier for decades.

The Constellation most certainly was in service during the events of TNG, although by then it had been relegated to less important work. The Enterprise was seen rendezvousing with or working alongside various Constellation class ships on several occasions. That said, by the 2360s it was on the verge of being phased out entirely.

It's true that Captain Picard described his own Constellation class, the USS Stargazer, as "an overworked, underpowered vessel, always on the verge of flying apart at the seams", but it's also worth noting that he then wistfully admitted to yearning to once again command her. These ships were old and in most aspects obsolete, but were solid, dependable and carried a proud tradition of 85 years of long and often dangerous service.