[Traveller Answer] Class A Starports

Date: Sun, 27 Oct 96 00:43:50 -0400
From: Derek Wildstar <wildstar@qrc.com>
Subject: [Traveller Answer] Class A Starports

Also, how does a person set up a class A Starport. I have a player who is setting up a colony and will want to upgrade from a Class X to Class A. Many reasons but the main is to start to produce ships

Since your player is starting with a Class X facility (in other words, no facility at all), everything for a Class A port will have to be built new.

The TL of the world, and it's population, come into play as well. Although exceptions are possible, in general the world must have a TL high enough to produce starship components. TL-9 would be an absolute minimum, and TL-11 or TL-12 would be closer to the Imperial standard. As a rule of thumb, population determins the shipbuilding potential of a world: about one ton of shipbuilding capacity per thousand inhabitants (actual figures range from half a ton to one and a half tons per thousand). A ship uses shipbuilding capacity equal to it's size for the entire time it is being constructed; for example, a thousand ton ship requires 1000 tons of capacity (corresponding to a planetary population of about a million) for 120 weeks to construct one ship.

Construction Time

If the ship qualifies for a mass-production discount (all QSDS designs do; as do the second and any subsequent identical copies of any ships previously produced at the yard), construction takes 40% less time. For example, a 100-ton ship normally takes 40 weeks; a QSDS scout/courier takes only 24 weeks since it is constructed of prefabricated modules.

The starport itself will have to include the following features:

Orbital Port - The orbital component of the starport (typically called the "up" port by spacers) is in geostationary orbit over (or nearly over) the ground port (referred to as the "down" port). The "up" port handls system traffic control, and provides complete facilities for handling cargo and passengers from large ships (all large ships call on the orbital port, and visit the "down" port only if absolutely needed) and unstreamlined vessels of any size. The "up" port includes docking bays, construction bays, and complete warehouse, hotel, maintainance, refueling, and repair facilities. A class A starport's orbital facilities can range from tens of thousands of displacement tons, to millions of displacement tons.

Landing pads - The "down" port will need to have many of these; a typical pad is 250 meters in diameter, and constructed of reinforced concrete or similar materials. Around each pad are a number of hangars or docking bays for docking, maintainance, minor refitting, and the storage of ships. The hangars are located underground, or behind sturdy blast walls to protect them from possible landing pad mishaps. Landing bays are separated from the starport and one another by berms (large earthen embankments) or other protective measures. Even a small Class A downport would have approximately a dozen pads.

Service Facilities - Each docking bay should be equipped to fully support ships with power, minor maintenance facilities, life support recharges, fuel (both refined and unrefined), and facilities for loading and unloading cargo and passengers. A cadre of technicians should be available to perform these services, either included as part of the port's docking fee, or for a reasonable extra charge.

Shipyard - Normally, the shipyard has it's own landing pads and construction bays, and is operated by a concessionaire. New construction of small craft and starships of 400 tons or less is done on the ground starport; larger ships are generally constructed in orbit. The shipyard also handles the annual maintainance requirement for ships which need this service.

Transportation - The starport will have it's own transportation network, linking the orbital port to the on-planet portion, so that cargoes can be conveniently and cheaply moved from docking bay to warehouse and back again, and from the orbital port to the ground port as desired. Good connections with the planetwide transportation network is also essential.

Constructing a new, Class A starport on a world with no spacecraft facilities whatsoever is a major undertaking (comparitively speaking, it's similar to - but harder than - building a international jetport in a region of the world that currently doesn't even have any grass runways). Seeing it through to completion will require patience, decades of time, and billions of credits before the facility first turns a profit.

As a long-term campaign goal, this is one that will keep your campaign going for a long, long time (decades, in game time). Encourage your players to set subgoals (offworld supplies and materials will be needed, so constructing a Class C port could be a subgoal).

References: "Champa Interstellar Starport" by Loren K. Wiseman, in _The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society_ issue #7 (1981) and _Traveller Adventure 5: Trillion Credit Squadron_ by Marc Miller and John Harshman (1981). Both are long out of print.

Guy "wildstar" Garnett
Traveller Answer Team

wildstar@qrc.com
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