How might real dock constraints apply to building speculative space docks and the ships they support?
Short answerA solid nickel-iron asteroid could be hollowed into a protected dock, but construction would still require separate material-handling and manufacturing facilities.
NotesA suitably solid nickel-iron asteroid could supply the dock's enclosing structure. Mining would create the working volume inside it. A functioning yard would also need berths or installations for incoming material and for manufacturing components before final assembly. Artificial ring structures could serve a similar purpose but would impose a more complex construction problem. The size of the ships depends on the whole industrial system supporting the berth.