Originally posted by Hemdian:
World Builder's Handbook p92 says ...
"The tech level of a world is seldom tied to the starport tech level. Most worlds consider the starport to be extraterritorial, and when the Scouts consider the world's technology ratings, they typically ignore any technology within the starport's bounds."
... and later ...
"No matter what the world's tech level is, starports always have a minimum tech level which exists within the starport's borders. These minimums are:
Class A Starport: TL 10
Class B Starport: TL 9
Class C Starport: TL 8
Class D Starport: TL 7
Class E Starport: TL 6
Class X Starport: TL 0"
That's for MT. Don't know if there was anything different in any other ruleset.
Regards PLST
Most Excellent, Hemdian--another book I do not own! And a baseline to proceed from, to be sure, our thanks!
On A-class, the soonest a J-1 drive can be built at is TL9, hence our TL line there, which is re-echoed in later TNE, T20 & GT, as well as their predecessor CT.
On B-class, the spacecraft must be manned. It does not
specify rocket-launched 1-shot capsules, reusable shuttles, or early gravitic space vehicles. This could arguably TL6 or TL7. based on the MT-HT era hybrid spacecraft Frontier Fuel harvester whose hull was built at TL7, but whose internal parts at TL5 & 6 (allowing for maintenance survivability down to TL5)the argument weights towards TL7 I'll concede. Furthermore, even CT & T20 have early 1 & 2G Manuever drive engines starting at TL7.
C-class, must be an industrialized world TL5+, capable of moving large sections of starship, Hull pieces, so forth to be able to accomplish "major repairs", and as seen by GT, be able to stably refine LHyd fuel on a basis more than seen pre-Heisenburg process at TL4.
D-class performs "minor repairs", sells unrefined fuel (natural water/ice bodies, gas giants, ice-steriods to manufactured TL4 unstable LHyd).
Arguably a minor repair to the starship's computer system can be said. and the small freighter's/ spacecraft Mod/1 computer begins at TL5 within the Imperium.
E-class offers no Ship or subcraft repairs whatsoever, no matter the Traveller mechanic version. Fuel is where you find here. Cargo is handled, passengers too by local available technology. the Big thing here in E-class ports is they're open to Imperial trade ships (within the Imperium), and come in all sizes, shapes and locales.
Now agreeably, they're laid out with similar features : Landing field, cargo holding area, passenger holding area, refueling area, X-trality boundaries..in an earlier post in this thread, I recalled a campaign where the Xtrality "fence" was simple dolmens of stone set at intervals about where the starship landed on a TL2-3 world for example, and that was big enough for a single 100 or 200dtn ship to land, and had a single caretaker & his family set aside from his tribe for this duty.
One can argue a radio is needed, but even visual signalling with lighting at low technology levels can be accomplished from torches/ braziers, or some such primitive non-electric , or daylight only landings allowed, as the GM allows, only by the breadth of his/her imagination. Still others have postulated an automatic beacon with regular offworld maintenance can keep costs lower, and manpower to a minimum. A grassy field or clearing, to a wide open plateau, or small mesa; to a crushed gravel field spread by the Chinese Steam shovel method of TL1 mass labor, all of these to the paved tarmac of a TL7+ airfield qualify as an E-class field.
Traffic is of course the variable, as is the system's population with the port thus assigned in the UWP. A High pop E-class world (9-A) will see more traffic in a month than a low pop (0-4) one on the average.
I omitted the X-class, any world with technology can choose NOT to build a starport (Sabiqmys/Lishun is TL-17, & Interdicted/ Red Zoned for example) all the way to The stone-age TL0 primitive worlds who LACK the ability to do so.
