Spacedock
A spacedock, or drydock, was a facility where starships were loaded, unloaded, built, or repaired. Most spacefaring species had some type of spacedock, and they thus varied widely in design. The United Federation of Planets and United Earth had spacedocks that most often took the form of a free-standing, orbital, single-starship-sized "cage". This form of spacedock was virtually synonymous with the word drydock. Generally, these cage designs were used for major construction or refits and could be part of a shipyard.

Some spacedocks, however, were part of starbases and outposts, and allowed for more secure repairs in a totally enclosed, multi-functional facility. The  enjoyed at least the final stages of its construction in such a facility orbiting Earth.

History

Prime reality

23rd century 
In 2257, the  was towed to spacedock after the Enterprise suffered major system failures. ()

Following the Battle near Xahea, the Enterprise spent a hundred and twenty four days in Drydock undergoing repairs until it was finally restored to active status in 2258. ()

In 2259, the Enterprise returned to spacedock for scheduled maintenance and for the crew to enjoy some much needed downtime. The Enterprise was originally scheduled to leave spacedock a week after Stardate 1739.12, but the 's mission to Kiley 279 forced the Enterprise to leave earlier. ()

24th century 
In 2371, all of Earth's spacedocks were erased from existence after the death of Gabriel Bell in 2024. They, and the correct timeline, were restored after Benjamin Sisko assumed Bell's identity and successfully brought the Bell Riots to their original conclusion. ()

The Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards contained a number of drydocks. The  spent some time in a drydock at Utopia Planitia before its launch in 2371. ()

In 2373, Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force attacked and destroyed the Cardassian spacedocks on Torros III. ()

Also in that year, Chief Miles O'Brien told Captain Sisko that a spacedock would be a better place to repair the  than Deep Space 9 after Michael Eddington's cascade virus damaged the ship. ()

There were also spacedocks in orbit of Trelka V in the 2370s. Three  starships were docked there in 2375 when Martok led the attack on the Trelka starbase. ()

32nd century 

In 3190, The Federation built Archer Spacedock, the first spacedock built since The Burn. ()

Alternate reality 
In 2259 of the alternate reality, a facility affiliated with Section 31 was in orbit of the Jovian moon Io. Known as the Io Facility, it was where the  was constructed and launched. () 

In 2263, the  was under construction in a spacedock located in one of the space lanes of Yorktown Station. ()

 Mirror universe 

In the mirror universe year 2155, the Tholians took the  to a spacedock built into an asteroid-moon in orbit around a gas giant and began a salvage operation, but were unable to finish because the ship was stolen by Commander  of the . ()

Appendices

Related topics 
 Cardassian orbital drydock
 Earth spacedocks
 Unnamed Federation space stations

Background information 
The first mention of a spacedock is in .

The script for The Motion Picture calls the structure an "Orbital Dry Dock".

The terms "Spacedock" and "Drydock" have been used interchangeably to describe the same structures. NAR-30974, the facility the  was launched from in , had markings saying it was a "Starfleet Drydock" while the script and dialogue used "spacedock." Voyager launched from a similar, if smaller, facility that was referred to as a "drydock" in dialogue and the scripts in the episode .

Very little is known about the enclosed spacedocks seen in the  and TNG episodes. Their dimensions, internal layout, regular and maximum compliment, and if the spacedock was open to civilians or if it was restricted to Starfleet personnel, is unknown.

There seem to be very different sizes of the enclosed spacedocks, despite having the same basic "mushroom" design in the 23rd century as they do in the 24th. It is known, for instance, that some can accommodate a  starship, although the facility seen in the movies – whose space doors seem barely wide enough to accommodate the Enterprise – seem able to admit nothing larger than an  vessel. This is because stock footage of the original Enterprise entering the dock was superimposed with the new, larger  entering the same port.

External link 

ja:スペースドック
Station types