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Stations are built and repaired by Construction Vessels (CVs), which are sold by XL Ship Dealers and can only build the variants of stations from the CV's originating system. The CV needs an Architect NPC, in addition to the normal crew options (Captain, Engineer and Defence Officer). Remember to equip CVs with cURVs & at least 1 cargo drone before assignment, otherwise you'll be waiting a /long/ time for the station to finish! CVs have priority over stations when NPC ships wish to sell wares so station construction can be a bit smoother than supplying rare wares to stations.
Once construction of a station is begun you can technically cancel construction, but it's better to make sure you build it in the correct place first rather than risk the possibility of something bugging out with the CV and/or Architect. If the CV is destroyed at any time after construction begins, you can replace it by being in the same zone as the location and the new CV (in your squad) and talking to the Architect. This does not need the same <faction> CV; any CV will do provided it has an Architect on board.
All stations are built from a very similar collection of wares (see below; fewer types than ships). These station components are not typically needed in huge volumes for individual station build stages and are often only available in small quantities which get quickly traded away due to high demand. Therefore you may find multiple faster L TRADE ships are more useful when building stations than a few slow XL TRADE ships. It is also not required that the exact amounts of materials for a build stage be present in the CV for it to progress, only that at least that amount is present for the build stage to complete. This means you can transfer-in excess materials for later build stages in advance so construction on subsequent build stages can begin immediately upon completion of the current stage.
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