Orbital Station & Docks

Orbital stations are a mainstay of many a faction or nation. Some are strictly tied to one nation or mega-corporation, while others are maintained by a loose confederation with related interests, at least on paper. Most, if not, all have a scientific and law enforcement / military group attached and support crews. It has been found cheaper to have orbital docks attached to these as it concentrates the need to maintain two or more separate structures in orbit.
The general station and docks are open to most to allow transport on & off world for different reason, whether business or pleasure. Specialist sections of the station are military & law enforcement only and the mega-corporations control a major part of the dock structures. Each is coded with a mix of electronic keys & bioreaders, and usually with a colour / numerical figure to designate the specific area in question.
GENERAL LAYOUT & BUILD
Highly complex, both the station and port & docks are built to withstand minimal pressure on the outside. On the inside of the hull, atmosphere, temperature and pressure is maintained artificially. This is done by using nanotechnology: the hull alone is shot through with pockets of nanobots and a miniaturised heavy metals & various synthetic materials formed in chemical factories. These synthetic materials vary though usually consist of artificial spider-silk & carbon nanotubules, and the former is usually high grade tungsten and similar metals. These spin around in the hull creating artificial gravity on one hand. On the other they are took by the nanobots when activated by damage to the hull, or sent to area when programmed too. Most of the port / dock side sits with access to external areas, where workers & military / law enforcement can get to. The workers are usually ship builders, engineers and repair crews. There is usually some ship being worked on, whether due to it needing repaired or newly built. It is easier to do this than planetside due to the cost of breaking free of a planet's gravity well & atmosphere. Atmosphere is pumped into the ships too here, with backups physically uploaded accordingly.
Fusion cores are found in specified area and always guarded. Most sections will have at least one in operation at any one time. Most have a fair degree of armour, and weapon systems such as missile launchers, heavy machine guns, and energy weapons are found throughout, especially externally. Controls for these are primarily found in the command centre of the military sections, then law enforcement, and finally civilian sections. Fire suppression is controlled throughout and makes extensive use of Synths as firefighters. Most fires can be controlled by cutting off the atmosphere to the section starving it of oxygen.
Mist sections are also modular so if one is damaged, it can be moved and severed while a new one is added or the old repaired. Atmospheric processors, CO2 scrubbers, tanks of pressurized gasses, and gas producing organisms in hydroponic setting are found throughout the whole central core and the gasses mixed in specialist sealed processing rooms throughout about 3 to 4 people wide. Only specialist engineers are allowed anywhere near these.
A specialised AI is found in each section slaved to a set of human controllers, and only they can access it. If there is a problem like a breach in safety or the death of the controllers, permissions can be automatically passed to another relevant system. All three regular sections are linked and monitored in case of any such problems arising. Also, nanobots & Synths are closely monitored to stop any breaches in security and damage caused by them.

Utility

Many human subspecies and alien species use related technology. Nearly all human subspecies uses the same specifications, while the latter can vary wildly in design & detail. The whole point is to help with space travel, deep space travel, and protection from threats beyond the world they are usually found around.

Social Impact

Orbital systems such as the station & docks have made it far easier & cheaper to delve deeper into the solar systems of many species. This has led to the ability of many to better protect their own homeworlds and manufacture ships without needing them to do it planetside. Though most ships have the ability to enter & exit the atmosphere of a planet it can be very taxing on the ship systems trying to punch back out, especially on worlds that have stronger gravitational fields.
It has also led to better exploitation of natural resources on other planets, planetoids and asteroid belts and the like. This is in part due to the ability to send the ship from the station directly with the required crew, and processing the raw material off-world before arriving at the destinations that it is required.