On 8/19/2020 7:48 AM, Rupert Boleyn wrote:
>
>
> On 19Aug2020 1924, xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> I would agree the IISS would have the catalog (they produce the  > baseline
>> navigation database and surveys) but I think a proper >
> assessment might be a bit out of the Scouts' league.
> They have an entire branch devoted to surveys, both internal and external. They
> also have their spy network of ex-scouts and actual spies. They're also moving
> ships through a lot of the Imperium, delivering mail, running new surveys, and
> even doing uplift of low TL Imperial worlds (according to Book 6), so they'll
> have people all over the place feeding information back. Any time something
> seems out of place some survey team or a detached scout heading that way would
> get tapped to take a look and write a report. I don't see why they'd need
> another Imperial agency to assess starport capability (nor do I recall there
> being an agency with such a job).
>
	GT:Starports assigns the operation of the Imperial starports to the Starport
Authority (SPA), as part of the Ministry of Commerce. The SPA has an
self-assessment authority to rate each of the ports under their control.

	The IISS usually takes the SPA reports at face value, and incorporates their
data into their internal reports on the Imperium. The IISS will verify these
reports, but only do an indepth investigation if they have some evidence of
mistakes.

	Since the SPA runs the port, it also means they need to have a detailed, and
updated, scan of the system to ensure safe ship traffic. So the SPA report would
include some data about the system contents and location of (potentially)
dangerous objects. In this way the IISS survey branch and the SPA co-operate and
share data.

--
         Thomas Jones-Low
Work:	xxxxxx@softstart.com
Home:   xxxxxx@gmail.com