On 20Aug2020 0710, hemdian wrote:

> I believe the usage of starport class E and X has varied over the
> years.  On the now defunct Core Routes website, there was a Q&A posted
> between Clifford Linehan (the site’s owner) and Marc Miller that shows
> the thinking at that point in time:
>
> | Marc Miller:
> | > All worlds are generated normally, but Pop is automatically set at
> 0 (and
> | > so on).
> | >
> | > The "Zone of Barren Worlds" does not refer to only zho, it means
> there is
> | > no intelligent life on most of them, thus ENNN000-0
> | >
> | > I use E (hard bnedrock and little else for a spaceport) rather
> than X which
> | > doesn't mean "no spaceport" but instead "no one allowed in (by some
> | > interdicting authority)."
> |
> | Clifford Linehan:
> | > So all planets in the barren zone have starport E unless there is
> something
> | > special about it that the authorities don't want you there.
> |
> | Marc Miller:
> | > Right
>
> (You can still see this on the Wayback Machine.)
>
> And I have seen a list of class X starports in the Spinward Marches
> and what their class would be if the worlds in question weren’t
> interdicted.
>
> Since then the definition has shifted from E meaning none to X meaning
> none.

Book 3, 1977 says:

     E    Frontier installation. Essentially a bare spot of bedrock with
no fuel, facilities,
or bases present.
     X    No starport. No provision is made for any starship landings.

So a Type E, by the book back then is less than I imagined, but it's at
least a marked out place. A Type X... well I hope you've a geologist or
the like aboard who can say whether that rock pad is as solid as you
think before you land on it.

However, it also says:

     Starports:    The starport digit ranges from A (the best) through E
(the worst); also included is X (indicating no starport). Starport type
is generated using the starports table presented in the section on star
mapping. Starport type indicates the type and quality of facilities
present for the handling of interstellar commerce and travel. See the
starport table.

Which implies a Type E was still considered an actual Starport, of sorts.

Book 3, 1981 says:

     E    Frontier installation. Essentially a marked spot of bedrock
with no fuel, facilities, or bases present.
     X    No starport. No provision is made for any ship landings.

So by 1981, Type E includes someone having actually marked the place as
an explicit port.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>