Colony Port Layout

[Mafty]

So is there any information on how the interior of the Space Colonies port works? In several series and movies (Gundam F91, Victory, Unicorn) we see a rather elaborate interior connecting the outer port of the colony to the interior. There seems to be large areas nearly a football field in length , that frequently have large factory type buildings within them. Obviously a lot of space is needed to manage a colonies operation, but what is this area used for? Is it a port that analyzes the shipments that arrive in the colony? Is it storage space for mobile suits for either defense or construction?

[Seto Kaiba]

None that I can find, beyond statements of the obvious about the colony port being a multipurpose docking facility that's set up to handle a colony's logistical and transport needs.

Presumably that means multiple docking facilities to support a variety of void-capable craft including military ships, long-distance transports between Sides, short-range inter-colony transits, and the various small craft used in colony maintenance like the "space boats", Petit MS, and Mobile Workers. That probably also includes bulk storage for any cargo being sent to or from the colony (e.g. raw materials for its industrial pursuits), maintenance facilities to take care of repairs and routine maintenance on the ships using the port, and so on.

[Mafty]

Makes sense the colony would need all of the space it could get for storage, even beyond wartime needs. After all there would be the necessary need to store food supplies for the colony, plus medical needs, clothing, products etc. So the port would be a busy place(Hence the monopoly on the Colony Ports seen in ZZ). There may also even bee some emergency shelters on the outer edge of the colony for easier escape. The newer colonies (ie The Frontier Side) may have even been built to house mobile suits easier in the port for defense.

[Seto Kaiba]

While colony construction was/is mostly standardized, I'd assume after a little while no two colony ports are exactly the same since each individual colony's going to prioritize what it needs in that zero-g dock facility based on what it makes, what kind of traffic it sees from other colonies, etc.

I'd imagine a resort colony like Texas is mostly set up to accommodate long-distance shuttles, while the colonies which are heavily invested in a particular industry devote most of theirs to freight handling, and those that involve government of a Side probably have a greater proportion of docks for local transit space boats and military vessels.

[Mafty]

Looking at Toysdreams Twitter gives an interesting account of the Space Colony construction process. aside from inconsistences in how many people live on a Colony; it does show that as time moves on Colonies seem to get larger and longer. Compare some of the colonies from early Gundam to F91 and Victory; they are quite a bit longer, presumably to accommodate the ever growing population. So it would make sense that there would be differences in interior port design depending on the size of the population, the size of the colony structure itself, or the age of the colony. Especially colonies like Frontier I, Core 3, and Heliopolis which have Resource Asteroids attached (sometimes permanently) to them.