Spacedock
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A spacedock was a facility capable of docking starships for maintenance. Most spacefaring species had some type of spacedock, and they thus varied widely in design. Within the United Federation of Planets, and its immediate predecessors, a spacedock most often took the form of a free-standing, orbital, single-starship-sized "cage". This form of spacedock was virtually synonymous with the word drydock. Examples included McKinley Station and the unnamed facilities which launched the refit Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the NX-01, as well as the many individual spacedocks that comprised the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. Generally, these cage designs were for major construction or refits.
Some spacedocks, however, were part of starbases and outposts, and allowed for more secure repairs in a totally enclosed, multi-functional facility. The USS Excelsior enjoyed at least the final stages of its construction in such a facility orbiting Earth.
In 2371, all of Earth's spacedocks were erased from existence after the death of Gabriel Bell in 2024. They, and the correct timeline, were restored after Benjamin Sisko assumed Bell's identity and successfully brought the Bell Riots to their original conclusion.
In 2373, Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force attacked and destroyed the Cardassian spacedocks on Torros III.
There were also spacedocks in orbit of Trelka V in the 2370s. Three Galor-class starships were docked there in 2375 when Martok led the attack on the Trelka starbase.
In 2373, Chief Miles O'Brien told Captain Sisko that a spacedock would be a better place to repair the USS Defiant, NX-74205 than Deep Space 9 after Michael Eddington's cascade virus damaged the ship.
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