| File:USS Enterprise approaches Earth Spacedock.jpg | ||
| Affiliation: | Federation Starfleet | |
| Type: | Spacedock | |
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| Affiliation: | Federation Starfleet | |
| Name: | Jupiter Station | |
| Affiliation: | Federation Starfleet | |
| Name: | Starbase 375 | |
A starbase is a facility where starships are maintained and resupplied, and crews can relax. A starbase can be a research station, a military base, a place for interstellar trade or a seat of administration. Some starbases are also involved in the construction of starships. Starbases offer various services to vehicles, from medical facilities to full-fledged spacedocks capable of refitting a starship.
Starbases can be partially or completely located on a planet surface, or be limited to strictly spaceborne installations. Some are a combination of a ground-based facility with orbital components.
The term starbase is often specifically used to refer to Federation Starfleet bases. Federation starbases are usually commanded by a flag officer, and fulfill a major supporting role in Starfleet. They coordinate starship operations and provide supplies and maintenance to Federation starships. Some starbases, like Deep Space 9, are jointly operated by local governments. Major Federation starbases are numbered sequentially, totalling more than 700 in the 2360s. Besides the numbered starbases, Starfleet also operates so-called "Deep Space" outposts, usually located outside Federation territory or in the interstellar void.
- It may be that starbase unit nomenclature is similar to that of today's military units; there are currently only a handful of active US Army divisions, and even though we hear of the "101st Airborne" and "82nd Airborne", there are not 101 active airborne divisions in the US Army. Starbase designators may likewise be retired, reactivated, redesignated, etc. It is also possible that any planet with a Starfleet presence has a Starbase designation as well, and stations with other names, e.g., Lya Station Alpha, and Starbase Deep Space 9, might have starbase numerical designators.
The use of starbases were proposed to Earth Starfleet as early as 2154. In this year, the NX-01 Enterprise was sent to scout for suitable planets on which starbases could be built. Among the potential candidates was the seventh planet of the Berengaria system. (ENT: "Bound").
- If any starbases were built prior to the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, they would have fallen under the authority of the Federation Starfleet as of that year.
See also: Federation starbases
References
- ENT: "Bound"
- TOS: "Court Martial"
- TNG: "The Neutral Zone"