Space Station

Space Stations are (semi-)immobile facilities in space that fill many roles including zero-g production, habitation, and even defense. Many space stations orbit planets or moons, and can be categorized into several groups including low-orbit, geosynchronous-orbit, or stable-point. Others are deep-space stations far from any planetary body; this is particularly true for recharge stations at jump points.

Classification

Although there is no formal classification of space stations, a few particularly common "classes" have emerged:

Cargo/Passenger Terminal

The most common type of space stations, they can be found either in planetary orbit or at the nadir/zenith jump point. Their primary purpose is to facilitate the transfer of goods and people between ships and the surface.

Factory/Shipyard

Orbital factories and shipyards provide for the manufacture and maintenance of JumpShips and DropShips.

Battle Stations

Carrying an impressive array of weaponry and facilities for the repair and launching of aerospace fighters and small craft, battle stations are primarily designed to defend a planet from attack, whether in planetary orbit or at a jump point. Most were destroyed during the course of the Succession Wars.

Space Habitat

Most space habitats were constructed during the First Exodus to serve as stepping-stones for the exploration and terraforming of new worlds; in the succeeding centuries, many were abandoned and cannibalized for their parts and technology. Of those which remain, most are either in close planetary orbit or located at a Lagrangian point. The Clans built space habitats to house sibkos for their aerospace and naval bloodlines.

Recharge Stations

Also known as a "jump station", these space stations are found at jump points, as their primary purpose is to recharge JumpShips. The most well-known of these is the Olympus-class. Recharge stations use solar collectors similar to jump sails and store the collected energy in power banks. A recharge station will typically hold four to six such banks, and each one can fully recharge the largest Kearny-Fuchida drive. While energy transfer is not instantaneous, it will still cut down idle recharging time for the valuable JumpShips, and possibly allow for simultaneous recharging of a drive core and a lithium-fusion battery.

The most common transfer method is for the energy to be beamed to the JumpShip via its jump sails, with full recharge taking 150 hours. This only makes sense at dim stars where it would otherwise take the JumpShip longer than 150 hours to recharge via its own jump sail though.

Another method involves the JumpShip physically connecting to the station, whereupon its drive can be quick-charged. This can theoretically damage or destroy the K-F drive as if the ship were to use its own power plant to quick-charge the drives, but the overall risk is much reduced when using a jump station, and even the most cautious (and thus slowest) recharging in this fashion cuts down recharge time. The physical connection can be established by directly docking the JumpShip to the station, but the use of a cable connection is more common.

Space Station Production

Brand	Planet	Company
BattleSat	Luthien	BBP Industries
Capitol	Galax	Federated-Boeing Interstellar

Known stations

• Alyina zenith recharge station: in Clan Jade Falcon space. Still operative in 3060.
• Algorab zenith and nadir recharge stations: in Wolf Empire space. Both destroyed in the Jihad. Zenith station rebuilt by the Republic of the Sphere.
• Alkaid recharge station.
• Andurien zenith recharge station, still operative in 3058.
• Arcturus system, in Lyran Commonwealth space, had a zenith recharge station, still operative in 3142, taken intact by Clan Jade Falcon forces.
• Blue Star (system) nadir recharge station, mentioned by an anonymous ship captain, apparently a Blakist.
• Coventry nadir recharge station, still operative in 3058, used by the Jade Falcons during the Battle of Coventry.
• Delacruz system, in Draconis Combine space, had both zenith and nadir recharge station, The first, named Admiral Horusho Kensai, still operative in 3039, was scuttled by Combine defenders during the War of 3039 and destroyed.
• Gambilon nadir recharge station, still operative in 3069.
• Gatchina zenith recharge station, still operative in 3058.
• Goito nadir recharge station, reportedly destroyed during Ronin Wars but listed as operative (still or again) by 3079.
• Grand Base zenith recharge station, in the Capellan Confederation. Taken by Andurien marines during the Andurien Wars.
• Granera zenith recharge station, still operative in 3058.
• Great X system, in Lyran Commonwealth space, had a recharge station, still operative in 3055.
• Gulf Breeze system, in the Lyran Commonwealth, has the largest habitat outside Terra. It was originally created as part of Star League era mining operations.
• Harrow's Sun system, in Federated Suns space, had a recharge station, still operative in 3139.
• Kanzaka system, in Draconis Combine space, had a nadir recharge station, still operative in 3067, but destroyed total or partially so due to scuttling by Draconis forces, destroying the Clan Snow Raven WarShip White Cloud.
• Kessel system, in Draconis Combine space, had a zenith recharge station: Simla Station, still operative in 3039, taken intact by Davion troops during the War of 3039.
• Kittery zenith recharge station, still operative in 3059.
• Hesperus II station, assaulted and captured in 3057 by a mercenary team led by Grayson Carlyle, as part of the Lyran offensive against the Free Star Republic.
• Marlowe system, in Federated Suns space, had a zenith recharge station, still operative in 3139.
• Mica Majority recharge station, in the Periphery. Unknown whether it was Olympus class.
• Milnerton system, in Free Worlds League space, had a nadir recharge station, still operative in 3137.
• Nashuar, in the St. Ives Compact, had both zenith and nadir recharge station, still operative in 3062, and used by the Capellan forces during the Capellan-St. Ives War.
• New Home station: Recharge station at the nadir jump point, located in the Chaos March. Still operative in 3058.
• Northwind zenith and nadir recharge stations: Still operative at the beginning of the Jihad.
• Procyon system, in the Chaos March, had a zenith recharge station, still operative in 3057.
• Rest Stop system, in the Deep Periphery, had no habitable planets, but a nadir recharge station, a rest and recharge place, still operative in the Dark Age.
• Romita zenith recharge station, still operative in 3058.
• Ross 248 system had both nadir and zenith recharge station operative in the Dark Age.
• Ryerson recharge station, still operative in 3058.
• Shimoseki recharge station, in Draconis Combine space, had a recharge station, still operative in 3058.
• St. Loris zenith recharge station, in the St. Ives Compact, still operative in 3062 and used by Capellan forces during the Capellan-St. Ives War.
• Gondola Station, at zenith jump point of the Skye system, was still operative in 3134 until it was attacked and almost destroyed by a WarShip of Clan Jade Falcon during their final attack on Skye in 3134.
• St. Jean had a station at the zenith jump point, but it is unclear whether it was a (functional) recharge station.
• Terra system had a least three stations, named Versailles, at the zenith point, Brandenburg, at the nadir (still operative in 3058), and Aphrodite Station in orbit of Venus.
• Thuban system, in Lyran Commonwealth space, had a recharge station, still operative in the 3055.
• Wapakoneta system, in Federated Suns space, had a recharge station, still operative in the 3139.
• Zhongshang system, in Lyran Commonwealth space, had a nadir recharge station, still operative in the 3055.

See also

• List of Space Station classes

Bibliography

• BattleSpace
• DropShips and JumpShips
• Total Warfare