Orbital correctors

Many space stations orbit stellar bodies: planets, nebulae, even wormholes or black holes and their gravitational barycenters. That allows them to maintain their situation around the body they study, or provide access to, with a minimal use of power.

The role of orbital correctors is to keep the orbit steady. These minute thrusters located on the stations’ surface orient it so as to divide evenly the friction with the atmosphere, therefore keeping the orbit level. Three types, mirroring the thrusters found aboard starships, exist: chemical thrusters, ion thrusters and fusion thrusters.

Maintaining orbit

Orbits are always decaying because of frictions with the upper layers of atmospheres, of varying gravitational fields, or of minute but repetitive impacts of interstellar dust particles. This modifies the stations’ vector and therefore the orbit.

Since most bases are positioned in orbit, all station classes generally have orbital correctors. These allow for minute rectifications of orbital decay, that happen normally as the station brushes the upper layers of atmospheres; or, when a starbase is pushed out of its way by a deliberate attack.

In normal times, the orbital corrections are automated. However, when an event aggressively disturbs the orbit, corrections have to be made by the officers. A decaying orbit can be a serious problem, because if it is left unattended, it goes exponentially worse. As the station closes to the object it orbits, it falls more and more quickly towards it; the situation worsens, leading eventually to a terrible crash, or to fatal damage to the base’s structural integrity.