Starbase 153

Starbase 153 (also referenced in sources as Starbase One Five Three) is a Federation orbital launch-and-transfer node: compact, high-security docking rings and launch/probe tubes sit in a low orbital ring; maintenance gantries and sealed transfer plates operate under stark task lighting and clipped procedural comms. The station smells of ionized coolant and recycled atmosphere; annunciators and hails use encrypted clearances while technicians move with efficient, bureaucratic precision. From this base a two-meter Class‑Eight probe is launched carrying a sealed envoy when no starship is available, giving the station an atmosphere of urgent improvisation, constrained resources, and cold, institutional secrecy.

2 events

2 rich involvements

Detailed Involvements

Events with rich location context

S2E20 · The Emissary

Catching the Emissary — Warp Nine Retrieval

Starbase 153 is the logistical origin of the sealed Class‑Eight probe; its inability to provide a starship and its use of a probe emphasize constrained resources and the bureaucratic/urgent nature of the dispatch.

Atmosphere

Implied as efficient but sterile and bureaucratic — a constrained hub that improvises with probe launches.

Functional Role

Launch origin and logistical node responsible for sending the emissary.

Symbolic Significance

Represents institutional pragmatism and the impersonal side of large organizations.

Probe launch protocol and sealed transfer plates (implied). Administrative urgency and clipped communications (implied through Gromek's message).

S2E20 · The Emissary

Admiral's Secret — Warp‑Speed Probe Retrieval

Starbase 153 is the implied origin point that launched the Class‑Eight probe; its lack of available starships and decision to send a sealed probe establishes the pragmatic and secretive logistics behind the mission.

Atmosphere

Implied bureaucratic efficiency and constrained resources—cold, procedural.

Functional Role

Logistical origin and narrative explanation for why a probe courier was used.

Symbolic Significance

Suggests institutional improvisation and the prioritization of speed over comfort.

Access Restrictions

Not depicted on-screen; access implied to Starbase personnel and command channels only.

Referenced as 'Starbase one five three' by Admiral Gromek. Implied probe launch tubes and compact probe bays at the base.

Events at This Location

Everything that happens here

S2E20 · The Emissary

Catching the Emissary — Warp Nine Retrieval

Starfleet diverts the Enterprise to a mysterious rendezvous outside the Boradis system. Admiral Gromek withholds the mission's purpose, heightening Picard's frustration; Data reveals the envoy is sealed inside a two‑meter …

S2E20 · The Emissary

Admiral's Secret — Warp‑Speed Probe Retrieval

Starfleet orders Picard to rendezvous with a 'special emissary' delivered not by ship but inside a Class‑Eight probe, the contents and purpose withheld by Admiral Gromek. Picard's frustration at being …