That’s where space structures come in. Space structures are structures which can be constructed by an empire or an alliance in various places in space. Three types of space structures are considered, depending on the locations at which they can be built.

Space stations are constructed in orbit around planets. They have several uses, such as extending the building space and living space of the planet by placing the equivalent of ground buildings in orbit, providing supplementary military structures or supporting mining operations in neighbouring asteroid fields and nebulae.

Starbases are constructed in a system’s Oort cloud. They can serve as an advanced warning system, tracking movements at the limits of the system, provide supplementary military structures – especially devices that cause the collapse of Hyperspace windows – and support mining operations in neighbouring asteroid fields and nebula.

Gate bases are constructed near supergates. This type of space structure can only be built by alliances. They provide supplementary military structures just as the other space structures type. Moreover they provide means to limit the use of the supergate such as tolls and provide diplomatic facilities on the alliance level to improve the results of treaties.

Space structures are built according to a principle similar to the ship design principle. They are first of all composed of a superstructure. Various superstructure models exist, each providing a specific number of module slots. Various specialisation modules are available, in the same way as ship parts. These modules are either counterparts of ground buildings, such as housing or economic modules, or space-specific modules such as dry docks, sensor arrays and so on. Each module uses a certain amount of module slots therefore limiting the number of modules which can be installed in a given superstructure.

What do you think of this space structure principle?

Do you think there should be limits to its use?

What kind of specialisation modules would you see attached to a space structure?