Starports

A starport is a facility designed to support spacefaring vehicles. It encompasses the infrastructure required for launch and landing, as well as the logistics, maintenance, and passenger and cargo handling that accompany space travel. In science fiction, starports are central hubs where vessels dock, resupply, and exchange crews and passengers; in real-world terminology the closer terms are spaceport or launch complex.

Typical starport components include launch pads and landing zones, docking bays or hangars, a mission control center, cargo terminals, passenger terminals, fuel depots, and workshops for maintenance and repairs. Support infrastructure may also include life-support systems, waste management, manufacturing facilities, and surface transportation links to planetary towns or orbital transfer points.

Operations at a starport cover sequencing of arrivals and departures, refueling and resupply, diagnostic checks, and safety and security procedures. Space traffic management, airspace or space lane coordination, and regulatory oversight ensure orderly movement of craft. Customs, immigration, and export controls may apply where cross-border or interplanetary traffic occurs.

Starports come in varied types and scales, from surface facilities on planets or moons to orbital hubs that connect multiple trajectories. They may be publicly operated, privately funded, or run as joint ventures. Real-world spaceports function as the practical equivalent, while fictional starports often emphasize economic activity, diplomacy, or defense within a broader spacefaring economy.