The design represented a definite departure from previously established starship configurations. The first innovation is the laminated hull. This is a wider and thicker addition positioned between the upper and lower primary hull surfaces. This section more than triples the internal volume of the hull, while only doubling the mass, thus considerably increasing the operating duration of the vessel. Perhaps the most striking innovation though is the double-tandem perpendicular nacelle design. Due to the ship's tonnage, two conventional nacelles would be unable to propel the vessel above warp factor three-point-four without causing nacelle overload. Although this may seem outdated in comparison to the Excelsior class heavy cruiser nacelle, the double-tandem perpendicular design is a different but valid approach to the Constellation class cruiser's intended mission: long-range extended exploration. In addition, the presence of four nacelles allows a vessel with one or two damaged nacelles the option of reconfiguring its remaining units for a warp factor two-point-nine return to Federation space. This was considered essential since the Constellation class was intended to operate well outside of the Federation, where assistance might be weeks or months away, and a degree of self-sufficiency was vital.

The ship's hanger and weaponry facilities and capabilities are impressive, bordering upon those of the Adamant class dreadnought. There is one forward hanger, and three exterior research bays are located on each side of the ship. The six research bays may be converted into shuttlepod hangers if necessary. An unusual part of the design for this ship is that the forward hanger door doubles as the main deflector array when closed. In the tactical array, there are six ECHO twin turret phaser banks installed in the primary hull, as well as two photon torpedo banks. Each torpedo bank has one tube facing fore and aft, and these are mounted between the upper and lower pairs of nacelles.

Another innovative design of the period that was adopted into the earlier starships of this class was that of the Avidyne engines. These were a type of impulse engines that used phased energy bursts to create a controlled reaction in the core. The installation of Avidyne engines in newer Constellation and other classes of starships was discontinued at the beginning of the twenty-fourth century. In spite of this, the engine design remained in active service for close to fifty standard years.

There are other specifications to keep in mind with the operation of this class starship. The primary hull is designed to disconnect from the warp nacelle assembly in an emergency situation. Life support and sublight propulsion is possible through the use of auxiliary fusion reactors if a primary hull seperation is necessary. The auxiliary fusion reactors usually act as supplementary power sources. Bussard ramscoops at the forward ends of the warp nacelles gather interstellar hydrogen and other gases for use as fuel in the auxiliary power systems and impulse engines. There are gravity, inertial dampening, and anti-radiation force fields on every deck.

This ship is constructed to allow for multiple hull breaches in an extreme emergency. All doors, hatches, and bulkheads have airtight seals and can withstand sudden atmospheric pressure changes. Containment doors automatically close off breached sections of the hull to prevent the possibility of cascade decompression of the entire ship when force fields fail. The doors may also be closed in the event of all stations having been secured. The pressure seals on standard doors located around evacuated compartments can only be overridden by damage control teams. Smaller containment hatches are used to seal off all gangways.

As mentioned earlier, the primary mission of the Constellation class cruiser has been to perform long-range extended duration exploration probes, far outside the present boundaries of the Federation Treaty Zone. It was originally expected that each vessel would undertake a five-year mission plan, but this changed over the decades to become an average of five- to ten-year mission plans. Usually for vessels of this class, almost the entire time was spent exploring extra-Federation space, with no points-of-call, and the only Federation contact having been subspace communications and the occasional rendezvous with other far-ranging starships.

One of the most noted starships of this class is the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893), and the dedication plaque on the vessel's bridge bears the motto, "To bring light into the darkness." The ship was commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard from 2333-2355 during which time it was assigned to a historic mission of deep space exploration. Lieutenant Jean-Luc Picard was a bridge officer aboard the Stargazer when its captain was killed in the line of duty. Picard took command of the bridge and succeeded in bringing the ship back to spacedock. He was later offered command of the ship for his actions. During an exploratory mission to Sector 21503, the Stargazer was attacked by Cardassian forces and barely escaped.

In 2353, the Stargazer visited the planet Xenex so that Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commander Jack Crusher could serve as mediators during the peace negotiations between the Xenexians and their neighboring planet Danter after a long bloody conflict in which the Danteri had been the aggressors. It was here that Picard first met the then nineteen-year-old leader of the Xenexian rebels, M'k'n'zy, who would one day take the name Mackenzie Calhoun, earn a Starfleet officer's commission and eventually become captain of the Ambassador class heavy cruiser USS Excalibur (NCC-26517).

The Stargazer was the first starship to visit the planet Chalna in 2354. In 2355, the ship was heavily damaged near the Zeta Maxia star system by what was later learned to be a Ferengi vessel. It was during this engagement that Picard created what would later be referred to as the Picard Maneuver by slipping the ship into a quick start-and-stop warp jump that caused it to appear for an instant to visually be in two places at once. By doing this, the Ferengi ship was confused and fired on the illusory afterimage instead of the actual vessel. The maneuver allowed the Stargazer to defeat its opponent, but the ship was almost destroyed in the process. After having had to abandon the crippled Stargazer following the Ferengi attack, Picard was court-martialed per standard Starfleet procedure but cleared of wrong-doing.

In 2363, the Ferengi Bok returned the recovered Stargazer to Captain Picard as part of a plot to discredit Picard for what Bok believed to be Picard's part in his son's death when the Stargazer destroyed the son's Ferengi vessel in 2355. The Galaxy class heavy cruiser USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) towed the Stargazer back to a Federation starbase where she received a full refit so that she could be docked at the Starfleet Museum.

Another Constellation class vessel was the USS Hathaway (NCC-2593). The ship was launched in 2285 and was decommissioned prior to 2365 when it was temporarily returned to active duty under the command of Commander William Riker as part of a Starfleet battle simulation. This vessel was among the earlier ships of this class since it was still equipped with Avidyne engines.

Yet another distinctive vessel of this class is the USS Victory (NCC-9754) commanded by Captain Zimbata. The chief engineer of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D and NCC-1701-E), Geordi LaForge, served as an ensign aboard this ship prior to his assignment to the Enterprise-D. In 2362, a Victory away team was sent to the surface of planet Tarchannen III to investigate the disappearance of forty-nine Federation personnel. It was not realized at the time that the aforementioned personnel and all five members of the away team were infected with an alien DNA strand. The strand caused the Federation personnel to permanently mutate into Tarchannen lifeforms and eliminated the human individuals that they had previously been. The strand laid dormant in the Victory away team until it compelled them to return to Tarchannen III five years later where all except Commander Susanna Leijten and Lieutenant Commander LaForge were lost as a result of the mutation. Leijten and LaForge narrowly escaped this fate due to the rapid intervention of Dr. Beverly Crusher and the medical team of the Enterprise-D.

Although dozens of Constellation class starships were commissioned, only four more of these vessels are recorded in unclassified Starfleet databases. These ships are the USS Valkyrie (NCC-2590), the USS Magellan (NCC-3069), the USS Gettysburg (NCC-3890), and the USS Adapt (NCC-6773). The Magellan has remained in service as an exploratory vessel and is commanded by Captain Conklin. The Gettysburg was the last command of Admiral Mark Jameson (2279-2364). The Adapt is one of a large number of formerly decommissioned starships given extensive refitting for restoration to active duty to bolster Federation defenses during the Dominion War.