I wrote up a full description of the starport at Vincennes/Deneb using the GT:Starports rules and posted it on the TML about five years ago. This is an edited version, because the original was about 1,000 words long. (For the record, Vincennes is a rare example of a TL-16 world, with population 11 billion. Its most famous feature is its flying cities, using anti-grav engines to lift above the waterworld's constant hurricanes).
VINCENNES STARPORT
Vincennes' starport is Type A. It comprises three separate highports (Vincennes Orbital A, B and C) plus a downport (Vincennes Downport).
Incoming traffic must contact Vincennes Orbital Control at 800,000 miles. Positive control is exerted over all ships entering the zone within 80,000 miles of the surface; they must notify Control of their flight plan and are assigned a vector and timeslot. Vincennes space is extremely crowded, and any deviation from the assigned course could quickly lead to disaster. The planetary and SPA authorities are not inclined to be lenient with any ship that strays from its flight path.
The gas giant Oxford (Undraczech-IV) is 2.42 AU (min) 3.22 AU (max) from Vincennes and is also covered by traffic control. Vessels are warned that the gas giant Harvard (Undraczech-V) is a restricted military zone and approach within 100 diameters is strictly forbidden (this interdiction is imposed and enforced by Vincennes, but with the permission and approval of the local Imperial authorities).
Customs formalities at Vincennes are moderate. All ships must open their cargo manifests and passenger lists for inspection, and the Vincennes Revenue Service maintains a large fleet of fast, armed cutters to carry out spot-checks. These are normally on outgoing vessels, to ensure that restricted or unlicenced high technology is not being exported from Vincennes.
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TRADE LEVELS
WTN = 6.5
Port Size = 8
Vincennes' starport handles 600 million tons of cargo and 45 million passengers every year. It earns an annual revenue of MCr 121,389 and employs over 600,000 personnel.
In a single week, Vincennes is visited by an average 22.6 million tons of shipping, which typically breaks down as follows:
226 x 5,000-20,000 dton megafreighters
1,356 x 800-5,000 dton bulk freighters
9,040 x 100-800 dton merchant ships
40,680 x 100 dton and smaller craft
Excluding the small craft, that is 10,622 ships in-system at any moment (assuming they spend one week between jumps). Put another way, another ship jumps in every 57 seconds.
The starport employs 2,250 small craft for cargo and passenger transfers - 700 boats, 450 pinnaces, 650 cutters and 450 shuttles. (Note that these figures were calculated at twice normal efficiency because Vincennes' cities approach so close to the highport anyway). In addition, 200 shuttles carry starport personnel to and from the highports, and 120 oilers bring fuel from the world's oceans into orbit.
Vincennes can construct 1,500,000 tons of starships per year at normal rates. 600,000 tons of this capacity is public, at the orbital starports; the rest is privately-owned and government facilities.
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STARPORT DETAILS
Vincennes Orbital A
(B and C are identical)
Cost: MCr 132,665 Displacement: 21,000,000 dtons
Mass: 17,744,318 tons GTL: 12 (TL 15)
Station-keeping drive, 0.012 G acceleration
The highport is shaped roughly like a jumping jack: a central round pod (160m diameter) with six arms (each 530m long) leading out from it in the cardinal directions, each with another pod on the end. These seven pods each have their own bridge, lifesupport and fusion reactor facilities and so can operate independently in the event of a disaster. The highport is new (less than 30 years old), shiny, bustling, very well-maintained, and extemely prosperous. Don't even think about what the rent per square metre is like...
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Vincennes Downport
Cost: MCr 41,238 Displacement: 10,000,000 dtons
GTL: 12 (TL 15)
The Downport is buried beneath the soil of Vincennes' single continent to protect it from the regular hurricane-force winds. It comprises five large bunkers within a 59 square mile area surrounded by the XT line. A maglev leads to the sea and the underwater arcologies of Leresif. Vincennes Downport is significantly older than the Highport(s) and tends to be used for bulk shipments of resources rather than the high-value manufactured goods and passenger trade of the highport. It is therefore somewhat shabby, run-down and industrial; rents are low and the facilities are not the best. Condensation is a frequent problem, leading to musty smells, corrosion, dripping water and even growths on the walls, despite the best efforts of the SPA maintenance personnel.
If the world has a high population and an A or B starport, think of the starport like a large airport. With dozens of ships arriving and departing every hour or half hour.
