Shipforges

The Shipforges were large orbiting ship-building factories that orbited Earth. Because of the cost of escaping the gravity well of a planet, nobody builds serious spacecraft on the ground - it's much cheaper in the long run to build in space. While they were an advanced technology to the people of Earth, they were fairly insignificant in size compared to modern shipyards, like the Tetryon Drive Yards or Ixodon Industries.