Star Trek Galileo Shuttle Earns $70,150 At Auction

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

Last week we told you that an iconic piece of SF history was going up for auction: the Galileo shuttlecraft from the original Star Trek series. The prop was placed up for online auction by Kiko Auctioneers. After 11 days of bidding, the Galileo has found a new home, and it only cost the purchaser $70,150. The only catch is that it’s what you might call a “fixer-upper.”

The Galileo had been in storage for some time, in the ownership of an Akron-area collector, and from the looks things I’m guessing “in storage” may mean “in his back yard.” The 24-foot-long shuttlecraft has definitely seen better days.

The shuttlecraft nearly went for less than a third of that price, however. Up until the last 90 seconds of the auction, a bidder was in the lead with an offer of a mere $20,000. Unfortunately for that guy, several late bidders jumped into the fray and drove the price up to the final seventy grand. As auctioneer Brooks Ames put it, “It was pretty dramatic.” Quite a gift for understatement you’ve got there, Brooks.

The good news is that it sounds like the Galileo went to a good home. While Kiko hasn’t released the identity of the winner, Ames told the Canton Rep that the purchaser plans to restore the prop and may then display it in a museum. Short of having it refurbished and sent back into active duty in the next Star Trek sequel, what more could a battered old shuttlecraft ask for?