Landing pad

A landing pad is a platform on a space station or planetary installation capable of supporting small spacecraft.

In the mid-22nd century, Rigel X had a landing pad just big enough for small auxilary craft. In 2151, Shuttlepod 1 from landed there. 

Later that year, Enterprise visited the Vulcan monastery of P'Jem, which also possessed a landing pad, just large enough for Shuttlepod 1 to land on. 

As of 2152, the moon of Pernaia Prime had a large landing pad, capable of holding up to seven small craft. 

The Cardassian-built space stations, Deep Space 9 and Empok Nor had six landing pads, though when they abandoned the latter, they sealed them. On Deep Space 9, Starfleet housed the station's complement of Danube-class runabouts there ( et al) though they were also capable of accomodating both Ferengi and Romulan shuttlecraft. 

In 2369, Major Kira Nerys returned from kidnapping Doctor Surmak Ren and requested docking procedures for landing pad 7. 

The same year the runabout USS Ganges docked at landing pad 7. Lieutenant Dax and Ensign Pauley returned from a routine mission in the Gamma Quadrant and needed help to get off the runabout because of a power loss of unknown origin. 

Soon after, Lieutenant Jadzia Dax and Chief Miles O'Brien launched a runabout from Runabout Pad C when they went to rescue Commander Benjamin Sisko, Major Kira Nerys, Doctor Julian Bashir, and Kai Opaka from the Gamma Quadrant. 

Later the same year, Neela killed Ensign Aquino when he discovered her attempting to set up an escape route prior to her assassination attempt on Vedek Bareil Antos. She made it look like she was going to use Pad A, when instead she meant to use Pad C. Runabout pad C was located on level three. 

In 2370, Commander Sisko ordered a security team to meet with him on runabout pad C to rescue Major Kira Nerys from "The Circle" in the Perikian Peninsula on Bajor. 

Later the same year during a plasma disruption that forced the evacuation of DS9, the USS Orinoco was at Landing Pad Three in case the skeleton crew had to leave in a hurry. 

During the Maquis incident of 2370, Commander Sisko informed Odo and Doctor Bashir to meet him on Landing Pad C, to go on the search for Gul Dukat. 

In 2373, Lieutenant Jones was assigned to patrol duty near Runabout Pad E as Deep Space 9 prepared for an attack by the Dominion. 

Around the same time, a Maquis base on Athos IV was equipped with one landing pad, large enough to accomodate a Danube-class runabout.