We may never have flying cars or commercial jetpacks in my lifetime, but I think it’s entirely possible that I’ll be able to travel by spaceship someday. I’m still a young man. Surely someone somewhere is working on easy, affordable and convenient space flight. But until that day comes, we’re just going to have to make due with all the awesome spaceships on TV or in movies. Who hasn’t imagined themselves at the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon? Maybe even  some of you would like to pilot the Death Star. I don’t judge.

I can definitely see the appeal

But for me personally, there are a few pop culture spaceships that will always be near and dear to my heart. Whether they looked really inviting on TV or are just plain cool, here are my six favorite fictional spaceships of all time.

6. Max

Much more effective than a creepy van

How could you not love Flight of the Navigator as a kid? It was one of my favorite movies. It’s the story of a young boy teaming up with a sentient, wise-cracking, Peewee Herman-voiced spaceship as they try to travel back in time to reunite him with his family. The Trimaxian Drone Ship (nicknamed ‘Max’, obviously) is a sleek, energized spaceship designed not for combat, like most spaceships, but for science! Max has his own zoo on board of extinct species from across the galaxy and only wants to learn about humanity through young David Freeman. Mostly Max learns various pop culture references, but what do you expect from the 80s? Word has it that Hollywood is working on a remake, but I’d rather see a sequel, where David and Max team up to become the coolest space scientists in the universe!

5. Planet Express Ship

UPS needs one of these

Is there any more reliable ship in the galaxy than the Planet Express Ship? That ugly green beauty has taken more beatings than a Death Star and it keeps right on ticking, making its deliveries to the depths of space or the depths of the ocean. Sometimes it even becomes sentient and falls in love with its crew members. Or what about the time they spliced it with the Enterprise? Or gave it sails like a pirate ship? That is one versatile spaceship.

4. Serenity

Take my love, take my land…

Has any spaceship ever felt more like home to you? While this mention is probably the 3,576,903rd positive remembrance of Firefly on the Internet, I would like to point out that Serenity was one fine ship. All of the rooms were wonderfully unique, from Wash’s dinosaurs in the cockpit to Kaylee’s hammock in her bedroom. And there was a real sense of flow as the characters moved around the ship, like you could picture in your head where they were going to and coming from. It helps that, when filming, they actually built Serenity for real and filled it with the actual rooms, rather than building separate sets for each room. So when the actors moved from one room to the next, they really were moving around the ship, so to speak. Serenity was just one special ship, as everyone from her captain to a psychotic bounty hunter will tell you.

3. Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar vs. Death Star? If only…

Speaking of spaceships that feel like home, the Battlestar Galactica feels like a whole community. Home to pilots, politicians, doctors, soldiers and more, the Galactica was the flagship of the last fleet of human civilization, forced out to wander the cosmos on the run from the deadly Cylons. At the beginning of the Battlestar Galactica relaunch a few years ago, the military was getting ready to mothball the old girl, along with her commander, William Adama. But it just so happens that the retirement ceremony was held at the exact time the Cylons attacked, so everybody just had to get into battles stations to take off in a desperate escape. Then, through several amazing seasons, the Galactica held together, propelled seemingly by the sheer force of will of Adama and his skeleton crew. And come on, is there any cooler spaceship moment than when the Galactica freefalls into the atmosphere of New Caprica for that daring rescue at the start of season 3? I don’t think so!

2. Voltron

Defender of the whole freakin’ universe!

This may be stretching the concept of ‘spaceship’ a little, but Voltron counts because I say it counts! All of the Lions were capable of spaceflight, Voltron especially! He was the ultimate fighting force in the galaxy, especially when I was a little kid and watching the cartoon. Before the Power Rangers came around to bring the concept mainstream, Voltron started the idea of a group of heroes, each with their own individual robotships, forming together into one big asskicker! My memory is a little fuzzy about the show itself, but I definitely remember being an avid little fan, even if I didn’t fully understand the whole conversion process from Japan to America. I mean, did you ever notice how the colors on the pilots’ uniforms didn’t always match up to the color of their Lion? What was up with that? But still, none of that mattered to little Sean. I only cared about awesome Voltron action! I’m also eagerly awaiting a live action movie version of they ever get around to making one. And if I had to pick, I think the Green Lion is my favorite.

1. TIE Interceptor

He killed Porkins

I’m sure a lot of people would have the Millennium Falcon at the top of their lists, and don’t get me wrong, that’s a fine ship. But for me, my favorite spaceship from Star Wars is the TIE Interceptor, seen most prominently in the final Death Star battle in Return of the Jedi. It’s a sleek, deadly craft piloted with brutal efficiency by the dark warriors of the Empire. The TIE Interceptor is more maneuverable than the bulky-winged TIE Fighters that most people are probably familiar with, and that just makes it straight up cooler. I was first introduced to the awesomeness of the TIE Interceptor in the Rogue and Wrath Squadron Star Wars novels when I was a teenager. The heroes always piloted X-Wings, of course, but they were nonetheless always impressed with the villainous TIE Interceptors, and that really struck a cord with me. Dark, evil and badass, the TIE Interceptor is everything you could want for your space villain needs, and TIE pilots are a criminally under-explored corner of the Star Wars universe, as far as I’m concerned.

And you better believe I have the LEGO TIE Interceptor sitting proudly atop my Geek Wall!

A little blocky, but no less nimble

So those are my top 6 spaceships, what about you? Did I pick wrong when it came to the coolest Star Wars spaceship? Maybe some of you are even fans of the yellow and blue Naboo fighter. Let me know in the comments!

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