Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard's Season 1 Finale
The season 1 finale of Star Trek: Picard debuted the U.S.S. Zheng He, under the command of Acting Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes); however, little is known about the new starship. In accordance with Patrick Stewart's desire not to retread Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard is purposely not set on the Starship Enterprise or even another Starfleet vessel. Instead, Picard and his motley crew warped around the galaxy aboard the unregistered starship La Sirena, captained by Cristobal Rios (Santago Cabrera).
It took until Star Trek: Picard's season 1 finale, "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part II", for Starfleet to make its presence felt in the story, but when they did, they came in full force, with an armada to rescue Jean-Luc and the synthetic inhabitants of the planet Coppelius from a Romulan warbird fleet. Like the cavalry arriving just in the nick of time, Riker showed up aboard the Zheng He, backed by hundreds of identical starships. Since the Romulans' leader, Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita), was also the Head of Starfleet Security, she was well aware of the firepower and combat capabilities of Riker's squadron. When Jean-Luc successfully urged Soji (Isa Briones) to power down the beacon that summoned an ancient race of synthetics that would destroy all organic life in the galaxy, Oh wisely stood down and retreated back to Romulan space. Of course, Starfleet's armada 'escorted' them back.
Impressive as they were, Star Trek: Picard's new class of Starfleet ships were only seen briefly, and the episode didn't offer too many details about them. However, in his Instagram account where he answers fan questions, Star Trek: Picard showrunner Michael Chabon revealed that Riker's flagship, the Zheng He, is a "Curiosity-class starship." Acting Captain Riker bragged to Oh that the Zheng He is the "toughest, fastest, most powerful ship Starfleet ever put into service" — and his squadron was mainly comprised of identical Curiosity-class starships. Unfortunately, Trekkers didn't get so see the Zheng He in combat to make good on Riker's boasts, but viewers can take his word for it that the ships are Starfleet's cream of the crop.
The Curiosity-class is a new field of starships introduced by Star Trek: Picard and these ships are named for Earth explorers who were largely ignored by Western history. But the Zheng He actually isn't the first such ship mentioned in the series. Back when he was in Starfleet, Chris Rios served on the U.S.S. ibn-Majid, which was also a Curiosity-class starship. This means the Curiosity-class has been in service for at least 9 years; Rios left Starfleet in 2390, nearly a decade before Star Trek: Picard's main story set in 2399. However, the Zheng He is most likely the newest version of the Curiosity-class and even more formidable than the ibn-Majid was.
It's also worth noting that even though the Zheng He was called Riker's flagship, that was in reference to it being the flagship of this particular squadron sent by Admiral Kirsten Clancy (Ann Magnuson) in response to Picard's SOS. The actual flagship of the United Federation of Planets is still the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, which is commanded by Captain Worf. The Enterprise's storied legacy supplants the Zheng He's just-off-the-assembly-line newness, even if Worf's Sovereign-class starship, which debuted in Star Trek: First Contact, is approximately 25 years old in Star Trek: Picard's era.
The Enterprise-E hasn't appeared in Star Trek: Picard and Trekkers only found out Worf became its Captain thanks to the prequel novel Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope. Naturally, besides the Enterprise-E's whereabouts, fans also wonder what became of the U.S.S. Titan, the starship Riker took over as Captain when he left the Enterprise in Star Trek: Nemesis. However, on Instagram, Michael Chabon hinted that the Titan is still in service elsewhere in the galaxy. While Trekkers never actually got to see Riker on the bridge of the Titan, it's now also an older ship by 2399. On Star Trek: Picard, it was very cool to see Will save Jean-Luc while in command of the newer, more powerful U.S.S. Zheng He.
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 is available on CBS All-Access and internationally on Amazon Prime Video.