SW vs. ST in colonization

[paladin]

Given an Earth-like planet (similiar size, gravity, land/water ratio, etc) and 1 year, how big of a colony could the Federation have and how big of a colony could the Empire have?

This is just a comparsion not a competition between the two governments.

[Darth Fanboy]

If the Empire uses Construction droids, prefab buildings, and sets up an operational spaceport they could feasibly cover a lot of the planet in short order. Also, Imperial Hyperdrive means that goods and material can make it to a colony a lot quicker and supply lines to other areas wouldn't be as big a factor, also defense.

As for Federation colonies you might want to try the "New Earth" series, 6 books. I never read them but from looking at the teasers on the back of the books It seems to me like setting up a colony (especially in a contested area like New Earth) is quite an undertaking.

[Patrick Ogaard]

The bounty hunter Dengar, in one of the "Tales of the Bounty Hunters" stories, managed to secretly contract for the use of at least one (and possibly multiple, but I don't remember at the moment) fake prison barges, complete with fake torturers and guards. Each prison barge had sufficient capacity for 100,000 prisoners and all necessary support personnel. A prison barge should double reasonably well for a no-frills passenger transport. If one bounty hunter with underworld connections and some spare cash can provide for moving 100,000 people in one lift, consider what a decent-sized colonial development company should be able to do, or even a private consortium financed by the colonists themselves.

Now consider the maximum evacuation capacities of large Federation starships. Varying based on the source quoted, a Galaxy class starship could transport somehting around 9,000 people extra. Essentially, then, for the same lift capacity, though over a much shorter interstellar distance, it would require nearly a dozen Galaxy class starships to match a single Imperial prison barge.

[ali-sama]

Now consider the maximum evacuation capacities of large Federation starships. Varying based on the source quoted, a Galaxy class starship could transport somehting around 9,000 people extra. Essentially, then, for the same lift capacity, though over a much shorter interstellar distance, it would require nearly a dozen Galaxy class starships to match a single Imperial prison barge.

why would you use a military vessel to mass trasnport colonists?

[Mr Bean]

Because its not a Military Vessel, its a "Kinda" Military Vessel and there is nothing else large enough to take Colonists

NJO however is a better place to look for Colonising ideas as they feature a few up and running ones

And don't forget the one set up in Jedi Search Series on Dantoonie, they had it up and running in a week for 50 odd refugues completle with a Ion Cannon and was due in next week shield generators

[Patrick Ogaard]

Now consider the maximum evacuation capacities of large Federation starships. Varying based on the source quoted, a Galaxy class starship could transport somehting around 9,000 people extra. Essentially, then, for the same lift capacity, though over a much shorter interstellar distance, it would require nearly a dozen Galaxy class starships to match a single Imperial prison barge.

why would you use a military vessel to mass trasnport colonists?

Simple enough: Starfleet is, of course, not a military organization and has no strictly military vessels, the Defiant class of escort ships excepted. Starfleet is an organization of explorers and scientists, of diplomats and artists.

More pragmatically, colony support is a canon part of the role of a Galaxy class starship. Remember the TNG episode "Silicon Avatar" the Enterprise-D was, in fact, in the process of setting up a colony.

Two other points:

1. There is no actual evidence of any significant volume of interstellar passenger traffic outside of Starfleet controlled channels (i.e. starships and runabouts).

2. With the exception of the relatively tiny science vessels, Starfleet starships are always jack-of-all-trades vessels. Even the Defiant takes a break from the Dominion War to conduct vital scientific research that involves temporarily shrinking runabouts to such a size that they can fit inside plasma conduits.