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[[Category:Technology]]
Large, manufactured habitats are built using titanium,
aluminum, and steel mined on nearby moons and launched
into space by mass driver, or are processed from asteroids.
Gravity is simulated by rotation, power comes from large
solar collectors or fusion reactors, and a thick shell of
slag left over from mining and ore-processing operations
provides radiation shielding.

'''O’Neill Cylinders:''' These are the largest and
most expensive space habitats. They are giant
cylinders (or sets of coupled, paired cylinders) a few
miles wide and several miles long, rotating to provide
Earth-normal gravity. Inside is a complete terraformed
environment with park and urban landscapes. An O’Neill
cylinder can house a few million people, though current
populations tend to be lower. Only a few O’Neill cylinders
have been built, such as Islandia in L4.

'''Stanford Torus:''' These are smaller than the O’Neill
cylinder, but still very large. A typical torus is shaped like
a bicycle wheel, with gravity and landscaping on the floor
of the outer rim and the spokes serving as elevators that
lead to a central microgravity hub. It houses about 50,000
people. Again, radiation shielding is a major expense. A
few exist in Earth orbit, L4, and L5.

'''Bernal Sphere:''' This is a sphere with smaller attached
cylinders. The central sphere may be up to a mile in diameter
and rotates; the cylinders do not. The sphere is simple
to build, but it only has effective gravity in a strip around
its equator, which can be inconvenient. Several spheres
have been built, each housing a few thousand people.

'''Smaller Space Stations:''' These range from the classic
wheel-shaped space station that spins for gravity and
incorporates heavy radiation shielding to a much more
basic “work shack,” “bubble,” or “beer can” that lacks
much of either. These are usually cylinders or spheres 30’
to 300’ in diameter and (if cylinders) up to five times as
long, often made out of old fuel tanks. The only radiation
shielding may be a cramped “storm cellar” for riding out
solar flares; the crews either rely on anti-radiation nano or
regular rotation.

==Asteroid Habitats==
Some asteroid habitats exist in the
Main Belt or Trojans, but others were constructed from
asteroids moved into Lagrange points or planetary orbits.
Several dozen exist.

'''Beehive habitats''' are three-dimensional mazes of tunnels
and chambers burrowed into an asteroid. They are
microgravity environments. Beehive habitats normally
have some surface installations such as landing pads, airlocks,
vents, tool sheds, and antennae dishes. For energy,
beehive habitats use solar panels in the inner system or
nuclear reactors (fission or fusion) in the outer system.
Many are constantly expanding, as their inhabitants (or
their machines) tunnel deeper in the asteroid every year.
If designed to be self-supporting, they will have hydroponics
or fauxflesh vats.

'''Cole habitats''' are metallic asteroids that were
melted and reshaped to create hollow cylindrical
metal-hulled stations, then spun to produce artificial
gravity on their inner surfaces. Cole habitats may be
terraformed with soil and plants, and use mirrors or
fusion power to light their interiors.

'''Gas Stations''' may be beehive or Cole habitats. Usually
built into ice-rich carbonaceous asteroids, they are
service stations providing water or hydrogen reaction
mass, maintenance, or other amenities. Some stockpile
nuclear pellet fuel (for pulse drive engines) as well. A
typical gas station also includes maintenance facilities
and occasionally shops, motel, and entertainment facilities.
Populations range from zero (completely automated)
to a few hundred people, depending on
sophistication and the services offered. Many gas stations
are independent, but a growing number are corporate
or corporate franchises, often owned by
Vosper-Babbage, Tenzan Heavy Industries, Titan Consortium,
and others. A few deep space forces also operate
gas stations.