The USS Excelsior (NX-2000, later NCC-2000) was a Federation Excelsior-class starship operated by Starfleet. Excelsior was the prototype of her class. Dubbed "The Great Experiment," the Excelsior was conceived during the war as the first Starfleet vessel equipped with the hyperdrive. An awe-inspiring concept to some, traditional engineers were more skeptical, as in the case of Montgomery Scott, who expressed his doubt in transwarp technology with the analogy, "and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon."
Designed under radically new principles of propulsion, the Excelsior had the potential for becoming the fastest starship in the entire Federation, as at that time, the Starfleet record for faster-than-light travel was warp factor 14.1, set by the USS Enterprise in 2269.