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Why was Terok Nor given the moniker of "Deep" Space Nine?

The idea that "deep space stations" are rare and exotic stations outside UFP territory has a nice side benefit. After all, the UFP is an expanding entity. What once lay outside its borders may in a few decades or centuries be swallowed by it (say, with Bajor joining the Federation), at which point a deep space station ceases to be.

The upside? Why, it does sound a bit unlikely that there would be only nine deep space stations in the entire history of the UFP or Starfleet. But if a deep space station has got only a limited lifespan before being absorbed by the expanding Federation, then the numbers are constantly being freed up for reuse. Terok Nor could well have been the eleventh DS9 in history...

...And DSK-7 could have gained that extra letter because it was the K'th generation of DS7 stations.

Timo Saloniemi

This is a very reasonable explanation. Also rewatching TNG The Samaritan Snare Picard refers to Farspace Starbase Earheart. So it seems that prefixes like deep space or farspace are labels which are eventually dropped. Is Bajor on the fast track to UFP membership and how long after this event will DS9 become Starbase #_ ?
 
^ Even though they aren't canon in the novels Bajor is a Federation member and DS9 is still DS9. Maybe that'll change with the upcoming time jump to put them equal with the current TNG, Titan, and VOY novels.
 
Since the station is located in a heavily populated inhabited solar system where does the deep space label originate?

Would not a better name have been "Bajor station" in a manner similar to Farpoint?

Deep space objects make me think of the Argus array or the Epsilon listening post. For being a galatic backwater DS9 seems to be a few days warp from every major space power this side of the galaxy.

Yep. I got the same ideas even back when it premiered.
It was IN ORBIT of Bajor. I can't imagine an orbiting space station being considered "deep space".
That'd be like calling the ISS the International Deep Space Station. And it clearly isn't that.

Even when moved out of orbit in the pilot, it's still inside the Bajor system.
If ever I heard something referred to as "deep space", I would imagine it to be removed from any star system, and not near any celestial body at all.

And then there's whole bit about "Nine".
The Federation/Starfleet has been putting stations into space for centuries, and by the 24th century they've only got up to "Nine"?
(Unless they recycle names for stations as they do for starships. Which is kinda stupid if they're using numbers anyway. This is a NEW Nine??)
 
I always thought the original intention for the Bajoran Sector's location was that it really was quite far away from the core of the Federation. I kind of still get that feeling from the early seasons, but eventually that concept disappeared and it was an easy journey to Earth and the rest of the Federation. :borg:
 
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