Deep Space Station

The Deep Space Station Network is a Jump Bridge, consisting of four linked space stations traversing the Lesser Rift, jointly constructed by Julian and Imperial concerns to facilitate trade between the two.

Library Data Referral Tree

Please refer to the following AAB Library Data articles for more information:

• Jump Bridge
  • Calibration Point
  • Caravanserie
  • Deep Space Fuel Cache
  • Deep Space Station
  • Droptanks
  • Jump Tanker
  • Trade Route

Description (Specifications)

Physical Parameters: Each deep space station occupies a 55,000-dton closed structure constructed in either the Hegemony of Lorean or the Third Imperium. Once completed, each station is then moved via Jump tenders to their final destination, where it begins providing service. Special tankers provide the station with unrefined fuel twice a week, to keep the DSS full and capable of supplying the fuel needs of incoming vessels. The fuel is processed by internal fuel processing plants built into the station’s design. These plants require seven hours to process 200 tons of fuel, but merely operate to maintain the supply of refined fuel as it is depleted by outgoing vessels.

Each station possesses hangers for support of two 100-dton Crash-Rescue-Fire (CRF) vessels (which are not included in the costs of the station). Typical vessels used for emergency services are modified scout/ couriers, although other vessels of a similar size and shape can be used. The Deep Space Station supports thirty-eight small 100-dton hangers and seven standard 800-dton hangers to serve as ship berths. Ships larger than 800 dtons must maintain a relative position in space close by, but the station does have two modular cutters with two passenger and two cargo modules for passenger and freight transfer from larger vessels to and from the station itself.

In order to support Class C quality starport repairs, each DSS possesses five engineering shops capable of manufacturing or rebuilding starship components as necessary for minor repairs. In addition, each station provides three small (100-dton) hangers and one standard (800-dton) hanger, complete with scaffolding and braces, necessary for assisting in such repairs.

Personnel and Residents

As designed, Deep Space Station requires approximately 1256 personnel to perform its day-to-day operations:

• 100 administration personnel,
• 126 traffic control personnel,
• 314 ship services personnel,
• 251 cargo management personnel,
• 151 passenger services personnel,
• 25 security personnel,
• 6 medical personnel,
• 6 emergency services personnel,
• 126 flight operations personnel and
• 151 physical plant personnel.

Personnel Accomodations

In order to maintain that much personnel, each station has certain provisions in order to make an extended tour of duty more pleasant.

Housing for most employees is somewhat cramped, though significantly better than most starship accommodations. Such suites are four times larger than the usual stateroom found on a trading vessel. Executives and managers on the station earn one of the more rare standard housing units, with suites eight times larger than a starship’s stateroom. While the designers did not plan for many people to take up permanent residence on a deep space station, some provision has been given to those who would choose such a life. The naval architects incorporated five standard housing units into the design for long-term rent by non-station personnel, as well as thirty cramped suites.

Guest Accommodations

Short-term travellers, spending only a few days in the station, may rent space luxury or standard accommodations, or even pursue economy accommodations in so-called “slot shops”, which are nothing more than a communal fresher and a coffin-sized sleeping cubicle.

Shopping & Entertainment

An open concourse with numerous shops and retail establishments provide travellers and station personnel with an opportunity to exchange lose credits for specialty items at exorbitant rates. For entertainment, personnel and travellers can enjoy holo-productions at either of the two theaters onboard the station, or even take a swim in the swimming pool found as part of the exercise facility.

Medical & Mashkim Facilities

The station provides four sickbays for medical attention, as well as ten emergency low berths in the event of a major accident. Crime rates are understandably low, given the selection process used to assign personnel to service aboard a rift station, but in the event that such is needed, each station has two detention cells capable of holding two prisoners each for an extended time, or fifty persons each on a very temporary and crowded basis.

History & Background (Dossier)

History of the Deep Space Station Project: In the early 800s, the Hegemony of Lorean, seeking to expand its mercantile market into new areas, contacted the Third Imperium with the concept of establishing a trade route across the Lesser Rift in the Empty Quarter Sector. The Hegemony, although affiliated with the Julian Protectorate, desired to directly trade with the Third Imperium in order to expand its available markets. Toward that end, representatives from the Hegemony proposed that a series of deep space stations across the Lesser Rift, thus bridging the gap the two interstellar polities. Delegates debated the pros and cons of such an arrangement for almost a decade before coming to a compromise to which all participants could agree on a final plan. In 814, the Third Imperium and the Hegemony of Lorean entered into a mutual trade pact that provided for a series of deep space stations operating under the joint jurisdiction of both governments. Given that the costs of such stations would most likely exceed their capacity to support themselves, the construction and operation costs for the deep space stations would be subsidized by grants from both governments, as part of the mutual trade pact.

Based on early feasibility studies, the DSS Project estimated an annual flow of 15,000 passengers and 300,000 dtons of cargo through these artificial starports. Those figured implied 300 passengers and 6000 dtons of cargo per week, or approximately five trade vessels per day. Unlike planetary starports, which may have multiple highports and downports, a single deep space station must manage all passenger and freight transfers coming through their region of space. To prevent each station from being overwhelmed by the occasional heavy traffic volume, naval architects created the deep space station design under the assumption that they may occasionally have as much as double the expected passenger or freight flow. For example, in addition to a station’s normal fuel requirements, each carries enough fuel for twice the normal expected ship volume passing through the Saeghvung-Turley-Exile Run. Given the isolated nature of each deep space station, naval architects designed the deep space stations as small Class C quality starports; capable of providing at least some repair capacity to incoming vessels, in the event such were required.

Along the Saeghvung-Turley-Exile Run, the deep space stations are identified by the designation DSS, followed by the location of the empty parsec in which it resides. For example, a rift station located in the empty parsec of Empty Quarters 2225 would be called DSS 2225. In total, the Saeghvung-Turley-Exile Run requires four deep space stations: DSS 2225, DSS 2324, DSS 2621 and DSS 2720. The pair rimward of Turley were constructed within the Third Imperium and are manned primarily with Imperial personnel, while the pair coreward of Turley were constructed and manned by Hegemony personnel. Details within the trade pact that create created the Deep Space Station Project requires that at least ten percent of each station be manned by personnel from the more distant polity, to insure representation from both parties.

References and Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Jason Kemp. "Starship Datasheet; Deep Space Stations." Stellar Reaches 02 (2005): 19.