Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
Recently watched Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Geostorm both featuring interesting takes on space stations. This had me get out Highguard 2e and MgT1e supplement Space Stations and think a bit. HG2e describes what make a space station an official starport by inclusion of particular components. Noticed not every component available to space stations must be in a starport and there can be space stations as well as a primary starport or no starport at all.
All this made me realize a system doesn't have to be one Star Wars sized station filling every possible orbital function in one location impressive as it might look. A starport would be the hub for interplanetary and interstellar trade and traffic catering to immediate needs if one exists while most other stations would ring the mainworld or be located elsewhere in the system conducting specialized services. In many ways I would say separate stations interlinked in orbit would actually be collectively a 'starport'.
Refineries would sit in asteroid belts gathering and processing raw material for transport without waste to manufacturing stations in orbit or planetside elsewhere. Same for fuel refineries at gas giants which gather and clean products to be transported by huge tankers efficiently. Even unrefined fuel for less discerning would be more profitable. Manufacturing stations could take advantage of microgravity and solar energy. As new products that benefit from orbital conditions come into being, new stations are built. The stations would be built for specific conditions of their products and manufacturing needs. Processes that could produce unacceptable waste would be a boon to a world as the waste can be disposed of cheaply. These stations can be easily networked with each other and stations producing final products. Orbital construction sites and shipyards could have their own network of related facilities and part of the larger network for parts and supplies.
You could also see specialty stations other than a starport featuring tourist themes and purpose built activities circling the globe or around other worlds and even deep space in the system. Disney Station is just an hour's shuttle trip from the starport.
If not integral to a starport, there could be warehouse districts close together but allowing particular trade traffic to efficiently transfer cargo.
Agricultural cylinders for crops and livestock in a closed, renewable and recyclable system allowing the planet to use land resources for other things.
And one more system that comes to mind is a network of military facilities for defense and support. This may feature their own shipyards even at a different tech level if under Imperial mandate or feature the tech and building capacity of the star system. This would make sense as it doesn't tie up commercial production. SDB yards and fighter bases maintain craft and have C&C functions.
Just some ideas but it would make the sight around many main worlds look more intense that that one lonely port.
All this made me realize a system doesn't have to be one Star Wars sized station filling every possible orbital function in one location impressive as it might look. A starport would be the hub for interplanetary and interstellar trade and traffic catering to immediate needs if one exists while most other stations would ring the mainworld or be located elsewhere in the system conducting specialized services. In many ways I would say separate stations interlinked in orbit would actually be collectively a 'starport'.
Refineries would sit in asteroid belts gathering and processing raw material for transport without waste to manufacturing stations in orbit or planetside elsewhere. Same for fuel refineries at gas giants which gather and clean products to be transported by huge tankers efficiently. Even unrefined fuel for less discerning would be more profitable. Manufacturing stations could take advantage of microgravity and solar energy. As new products that benefit from orbital conditions come into being, new stations are built. The stations would be built for specific conditions of their products and manufacturing needs. Processes that could produce unacceptable waste would be a boon to a world as the waste can be disposed of cheaply. These stations can be easily networked with each other and stations producing final products. Orbital construction sites and shipyards could have their own network of related facilities and part of the larger network for parts and supplies.
You could also see specialty stations other than a starport featuring tourist themes and purpose built activities circling the globe or around other worlds and even deep space in the system. Disney Station is just an hour's shuttle trip from the starport.
If not integral to a starport, there could be warehouse districts close together but allowing particular trade traffic to efficiently transfer cargo.
Agricultural cylinders for crops and livestock in a closed, renewable and recyclable system allowing the planet to use land resources for other things.
And one more system that comes to mind is a network of military facilities for defense and support. This may feature their own shipyards even at a different tech level if under Imperial mandate or feature the tech and building capacity of the star system. This would make sense as it doesn't tie up commercial production. SDB yards and fighter bases maintain craft and have C&C functions.
Just some ideas but it would make the sight around many main worlds look more intense that that one lonely port.
https://www.freelancetraveller.com/magazine/ConsolidatedListing.pdf
