You just have to plan it out. Remember, you can use the big docking ports too. Take a look at my latest station. The bulk of it came up in two launches. One had the station hub in the middle. The other connected to the hub. They were controlled by the landercans. The two ships on either side are the escape capsules. They brought up their own docking tubes and will leave them when they leave. The third double-length docking tube came up on the fifth launch. The idea with it is to allow me to dock larger vessels in the future. If you look up and down the main body, there are two large docking rings. That will let me switch out larger components later if I need them. The basic idea is that this is a refueling station.
