Engineering - Regula Class - Information
Canon Facts Backstage Info Speculation
This is a type of space station preferably used for scientific purposes in the 23rd and 24th century.
The Regula series of stations were designed as small, flexible platforms for long-duration scientific missions in isolated locations. These kinds of missions could last for years; keeping a science team on station for that length of time would require the commitment of either a major starship asset or a fleet of small science vessels relieving one another every few months. Either of these was a significant draw on resources, while a small fixed station would offer the same capability at a fraction of the resources.
The stations were designed to be as simple and quick to build as possible, while offering the maximum flexibility in equipment. The Regula 1 station incorporated a 30 metre diameter dome capable of holding a large system such as an optical telescope, while the interior spaces included Geoplastics and Thermonics labs and a small particle accelerator ring.
The stations had very little armament - the shields were included largely to screen the station from naturally occurring background radiation during sensitive experiments, while small phasers were included to provide defence against larger meteors and to deter raiders.
The most notable of the Regula stations was the first, Regula 1. The Genesis Project created by Carol Marcus had profound political and military implications; by housing it in a remote outpost the Federation hoped to assist in maintaining the secrecy around Genesis. In any case, stage two of the Genesis project required a large and completely lifeless underground location in an isolated spot.
Unfortunately, the isolation of Regula also proved to be a major drawback when the project was attacked by Khan and the stolen USS Reliant. The only vessel nearby was the USS Enterprise, on a training mission with a largely cadet crew. The Enterprise was eventually forced to cripple the Reliant, provoking Khan to detonate the Genesis device with a Mutara nebula.
The Regula stations provided valuable service for many years, but they have now been replaced by larger and more capable designs. none now remain in service.
Seen only in "Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan", the Regula station was a reuse of the Orbital Office seen in "Star Trek : The Motion Picture". The creators simply flipped the station upside down and added a large dome to one of the circular modules - one of many cost saving features of the second film. Regula appears to be significantly larger than the office - the former can be well scaled from the travel pod attached to it, while the latter can be scaled against the Enterprise as it pulls up to the station for the first time. My viewing of this scene indicates that the distance from the base of the stations upper hull to the top of the ring below is about the same as the distance from the base of the Enterprise saucer section to the top of the Engineering hull. This distance is about 21 metres on the Enterprise, and I have used this figure to scale Regula to 242 metres high, about three and a half times the height of the orbital office.
Like the much larger Starbase 173, Regula has a dome on one of the circular sections, and I have again speculated that this houses a telescope or other instrument.
The canon section of the specs page is based around ST II. So far as I know, we haven't seen a station of this particular type since and so I have speculated that they have now been retired.
In DS9: "Blaze of Glory", the Regula model appears as the unnamed station where Eddington is imprisoned, with the tubes at the bottom. Although it may have been supposed to be a starbase, I assume that Eddington's station is of the smaller Regula type.