Your Base and Station purpose?

[SkyRex94]

Question is easy: WHY do you build Bases and/or Stations apart from the building itself?

We know Ressources (probably) wont happen in stock KSP. That means there will never be a reason to build a 'BIG' infrastructure anywhere, as science equipment doesn't need a lot of space and everything relevant in stock KSP can be achieved by Probes and ships and landers, maybe sometime rovers if the Science system gets overhauled.

But there isn't any use for Stations or Bases (like Funds/Rep/Science) which couldn't be achieved more efficient in another way. And Refueling Stations are a really inefficient thing: Refueling the ship directly is ALWAYS more fuel saving than shipping it to a station and move the ship there too, no matter where the station is.

BUT building a base or a station is fun itself if you're not bringing it up or down in one piece but in a modular way. So the question is: Why are you doing it? What reason has your Base / Station? What do you say to your Space Program CEO, why exactly so many funds should be raised to build extensive infrastructure somewhere far away?

[regex]

I build them because I'm bored. Also, they look cool. Sometimes. I guess.

[Franklin]

Ding-ding! Next stop: Nowhere!

[Pecan]

...And Refueling Stations are a really inefficient thing: Refueling the ship directly is ALWAYS more fuel saving than shipping it to a station and move the ship there too, no matter where the station is...

Is the amount of fuel the only thing that you care about?

It doesn't take as long for my ship to get to the station that is already there, with the fuel that is already there. - that's more time-efficient.

It doesn't take as many journeys to put 'spare' fuel in place than it does to send a refuelling tanker every time my ship needs topping-up. - that's more launch-efficient.

It doesn't take different vehicles to supply fuel and crew if they are all in the same place. - that's vehicle efficient.

It doesn't take a new scientific instument for every experiment if you have a single lab (if you can be bothered with science). - that's part efficient.

If you think about launching EVERY ship from Kerbin then, no, a spacestation is not useful. If you think about starting ANY mission from space then stations are very useful ("motherships" possiby even more so").

[Red Iron Crown]

When I was playing all-rockets, I had little use for stations. Tankers were better for refueling depleted vessels from both an efficiency and framerate perspective. I rarely used the trick of launching things empty to use a smaller lifter, ridiculously big lifters were part of the fun.

Since starting to play with spaceplanes, I've found an orbiting propellant depot more useful than before. I make my OSTOPs^* with all LFO tanks so if they fuel in orbit they have excellent orbital range. The depot is pretty minimal for performance reasons, just a couple of big fuel tanks, a few docking ports, a hitchhiker in case I need to lay crew over, and support systems.

^*One Stage To Orbit Plane, the term SSTO is too broad.

[Voculus]

Because there's nothing like the feeling of being in a spacedock!

[Spatzimaus]

In stock, there isn't much of a purpose to an extensive station/base system, just like there isn't much purpose to an unmanned satellite network (beyond the money for all those science contracts). But hey, that's what mods are for.

I've got small Kethane-mining rovers, huge Kethane-mining mobile bases, and a Kethane-mining space station (it's an unmanned ship that lands on low-gravity moons, fuels up, then returns to orbit to act as a fuel station). I've got satellites that combine Kethane detectors with ScanSat sensors. Put these all together and I've got a network of refueling options that allow my ships to travel anywhere they need to, which is a lot more fun than being stuck to the usual Duna/Kerbin options. (Jeb's personal ship, the Nimbus, is also an all-in-one sort of design with onboard refinery. I did a Grand Tour with it a few versions back.)

Now, I do have a giant (900ish tons) manned station that I keep in Kerbin orbit. It's there to act as a fuel depot for spaceplanes, and has no Kethane-based equipment on it at all. But I launched that mainly just because I can; a simpler fuel depot would work just as well.

[r4pt0r]

Now I can use stations and bases to complete contracts. flant flag on XXXX, transmit science from orbit around XXXX, ect...

before it was just for personal accomplishment and roleplaying value.

[tygoo7]

I build stations just for contract and personal purposes. I also have some science instruments on there, that still have a little science points left. I use it because of accomplishment and roleplay. I currently have one station in Kerbin Orbit called Starbucks Station.

[TimberWolffe]

I'm going to build bases so I can take rovers with goo containers and other science stuff around whatever I'm on, then come back, dock, get my science, and then head out again to do more science. Stations would be essentially the same but instead of rovers, I'd have fuel tanks used to refuel interplanetary ships and bring orbital science back to Kerbin

[Duke23]

Mostly roleplay or for the fun of it. It's a nice feeling when you put together a large station that just looks darn cool. On the other hand I like to park my interplanetary ships at a station because they usually aren't equipped to safely land but are reusable, so I'll have an escape pod type craft sitting around to ferry the science data down to the surface, and I can swap crew around or refuel or add parts.

I know I could do it with individual launches but it just seems better to involve the station. Recently I've been working on a station in Munar orbit that will have a lab, fuel, and places to dock landers and rovers for gathering lots of data without constantly sending ships back and forth from Kerbin. Again, questionably efficient but I like the idea and challenge. I've spent a fair amount of funds on that just because I can.

As for bases I do it strictly for the challenge and accomplishment. Base building is the primary reason I'm now able to land within ~1km of a target instead of 30, and have learned how to better handle payload delivery in a variety of configurations.

Once you start adding in mods the possibilities are endless for why you'd want to build a station or base.

[acc]

I've a station with the science lab in mun orbit to refresh the goo containers and material experiments on reuseable landers. And sometimes orbital fuel depots can be usefull.

[samstarman5]

It wasn't said resources won't happen, just that they will not be anytime soon, and probably not the way people think.

In the end really, why not build a station? If not a station, why a rocket in the first place? At its core, KSP is about doing anything you can with getting into space, and flying around there. Just because the career mode includes contracts and science that don't have a clear-cut direction to build a station and staff it, it doesn't mean you can't. There really aren't any restrictions as to what you can or can't do, except as far as what parts are currently available or what you can afford. Sometimes it may just be worth it to just blow off taking contracts, tell the science lab to go watch the mice in the maze, and take a flight wherever you gosh darn please. And if that includes assembling your own personal hangout in Kerbin orbit, then go for it.

Just saying, just because career mode isn't sandbox, it doesn't mean you have to restrict yourself. The stars are out there, and there are still so many ways to get there.

[BananaDealer]

Well, seeing how I don't play vanilla KSP, for me stations and bases fill the need for Kethane/Karbonite mining outposts, contractual obligations (there's a mod that adds a whole bunch of contracts and it's wonderful; survey missions are a chore though) and a place to explore planets from. Smaller stations also function as fuel depots, which you still would need in a stock game.

There's also the feeling of building something really cool in space. That's what really keeps me coming back to KSP.

KSP isn't a game of completion, and it shouldn't be one. You don't have to complete every contract/do all the science with a single-purpose probe/lander/whatever, you can but it's not a must...

[AlexinTokyo]

I'm thinking of setting up a KORS (Kerbin Orbital Rescue Service) station to rescue all those poor Kerbals who suddenly find themselves stranded in Kerbin Orbit.

[magnemoe]

Well in stock its bases for flag planting, also fuel depots are nice.

If you use mods things changes, kethane or other mining mods make fuel depots far more useful, construction mods makes bases and huge stations very useful.

[Jon Tash]

In stock I don't build space station or bases, only satellites for the usual science thing contract. But with a modded KSP I use for orbital shipyard. With mods like kethane/Karbonite and Extraplanetary Launchpads you can build ships in orbit if there is enough resources in the station. I usually put my station in orbit around a moon like the Mun, Minmus or Ike. I had once a station in orbit around Eeloo and had ships that could mine on the ground and go the station.

The only thing I couldn't do (and still can't) is create Kerbals on those places without having to ship them there from Kerbin.

[moogoob]

No part mods - my stations are primarily for refueling and storing/transferring personnel... err... kermonnel? Ehh. Makes multiple mun missions much easier - land in crater, poke around, return to mun station to refuel, find another crater.

But then again I play strictly in sandbox so they are also just as much for looks as anything.

EDIT: A large part of the station challenge that I failed to mention (and why I enjoy making them) is in learning how to launch really big things.

[SiliconPyro]

I use it to consolidate my orbital operations. Instead of having a rescue craft, refueler and science lab all orbiting, I just put them together. They share solar and there are fewer objects to keep track of in orbit. I also keep some crew there, just in case. It isn't about pure efficiency, but about simplifying operations, which can prevent costly mistakes.

[Renegrade]

I've a station with the science lab in mun orbit to refresh the goo containers and material experiments on reuseable landers.

^ this is the usual sort of station I build for career. I hit the non-equatorial biomes of Mun and Minmus first with single-use landers, and then I set up a science station with a reusable lander and sweep all of the biomes, completing the tree without ever going interplanetary.

While they can be fun to set up, there really isn't any practical benefit for any other kind of station in stock, unfortunately.

[JayKay]

When I first started playing, I had some trouble getting larger payloads into orbit, so I started a space station in Kerbin orbit made of a lot of small modules. That let me store fuel in orbit so that the smallish stuff I got into orbit could refuel and go on to Mun and Minmus. It was a good base of operations for various things back then. Now I can get a much larger ship into space so it's not so important any more. I do have a small station in orbit of Kerbin mostly because of the Kerbal rescue operations and one each in orbit of Mun and Minmus where I base test and science flights and landings.

Edited September 18, 2014 by JayKay

[InterCity]

Because I want to always launch with as little dead weight as possible. Also, I like to make sure that either Bob, Bill or Jebediah are somewhere *safe*.

[optimusjamie]

I have a small station in Munar orbit using the Science Lab from Interstellar, the one that generates science over time. There's one in Kerbin orbit too, that I'll soon get round to upgrading into a refuelling station.

[Francois424]

I have a new one in construction in a 28'900'000m Kerbin Orbit (between Minmun and Mun).

It will hold 5x Huge white tanks (the one that came with the Nasa Pack), monoprop tanks, xenon tanks.

A lab, about 8 habitation modules, and 8 huge solar panels (the large ones from the cosmo pack).

Obviously it will have about 10 large docking ports (senior) and 2-4 shielded docking ports.

I built it for fun, refueling, and in testing as a Pol Station for when I really want to explore the Jool system.

I am also planning ahead with my 1rst ever try with the Kethane mod. Dunno when, but it's coming.

Building stations is just fun =)

[Stevie_D]

Spacestations can make a hell of a difference, even in the base game.

I have my mun spacestation as a fuelling depot. Why? Because launching your ships fully-fueled from the Mun, and using Mun to Kerbin as a gravity assist then saves you a TON of fuel on the outbound trip, and means you can extend your mission and it's range a helluva lot farther.