Yorktown Yorktown , also known as Starbase Yorktown and Yorktown Station , was a massive Federation space station located on the frontier , near the Necro Cloud nebula , in the alternate reality . Containing millions of individuals , it was Starfleet ' s newest and most advanced base as of 2263 and was commanded by Commodore . History . Yorktown was constructed in lieu of a planet side settlement so as not to show geographical favoritism to any particular recently - admitted worlds . Three years into a five - year mission as commanding officer of the , Captain applied for a vice admiral position at Yorktown . At the time , Starfleet ' s most technologically ship was under construction there . Attack by Krall . In 2263 , the " Enterprise " docked in one of Yorktown ' s space lane s for resupply . From there , it was dispatched to the Necro Cloud on a mission to ostensibly rescue the stranded crew of Kalara ' s ship . In truth , Krall had lured the " Enterprise " into the nebula , where it was attacked and destroyed at the planet Altamid . Marooned on Altamid , the surviving crew of the " Enterprise " discovered that Krall had used a Magellan probe to retrieve data from the Federation , including schematics of Yorktown , which he meant to attack . Launching a fleet of Swarm ship s , Krall attempted to deploy a weapon known as the Abronath in Yorktown ' s life support system , in order to wipe out all life on the base and use it to strike other Federation worlds . Pilot ing the 22nd century era into Yorktown in pursuit of Krall , Captain Kirk crashed the old Starfleet ship at Yorktown Central Plaza , then engaged with Krall , ultimately killing the despot before he could deploy the Abronath . In honor of his heroics , Kirk was offered the vice admiral position at Yorktown , but declined in favor of continuing to command a starship . ( ) Technical data . Yorktown ' s structure consisted of a matrix of city - sized interlocking rings and radiating arms enclosed in a spherical translucent surface ; " Enterprise " doctor likened it to a giant " snow globe " in space . Several of the station ' s arms reached the surface of the sphere and mounted doors large enough to admit starships into internal space lane s . The arms of the starbase met at a central nexus point where a central plaza and Yorktown Headquarters stood . Due to the complex gravitational characteristics of the structure , the center of " Yorktown " contained a gravitational slipstream . Yorktown contained a shipyard and was defended by numerous turrets on its surface as well as a network of satellites , all armed with phaser s and photon torpedo es . The station ' s military and manufacturing capabilities were sufficient for it to pose a major threat to the Federation if captured intact by an enemy . It housed several million beings from across the Federation , including the family of . The station was divided into zones , such as art s / culture , park s / nature , sightseeing , and recreation . Attractions included museum s , garden s , restaurant s , nightclub s , and bar s that were reputed to be excellent . Public transporter s were available to move between zones , and monorail - like train s were also operating . ( ) Appendices . Background information . In the script of " Star Trek Beyond " , this facility was initially described thus ; " " YORKTOWN BASE . A massive FEDERATION STAR BASE on the edge of charted space . Built in conjunction with dozens of different alien Federation species . A nexus for all the nearby worlds that have been inducted into the Federation . Yorktown is large enough to house the millions of residents , visitors and workers who have just moved in . An idyllic multicultural hub invested with the spirit of everything the Federation stands for . " " ( " Star Trek Beyond - The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow " , p . 12 ) Yorktown was designed by Sean Hargreaves . According to Hargreaves , the initial design of Yorktown ' s arms did not feature windows looking into the passageway . However , this feature was added in order to depict the " Enterprise " and , later , the " Franklin " flying through the interior structure of the base . This addition also led to the sequence in which the " Franklin " rises up through a reflecting pool at Yorktown Central Plaza . The buildings in Yorktown were designed to match the real life buildings at the filming location in , . Also according to Sean Hargreaves , each of the arms of Yorktown was intended to be 17½ miles long . The CGI model of Yorktown was constructed by Hargreaves , a team of four modelers and two texturers at Double Negative studios in , using 810 unique modular elements detailing sixty - four cityscapes . The sequence first featuring Yorktown in " Star Trek Beyond " consisted of 1 , 000 frames , depicting the 1 . 3 trillion digital model of the base . Digital city arms , shell background , CG crowds , and air traffic were added by Double Negative to footage captured during a monthlong location shoot in Dubai . ( " Cinefex " , No . 148 ) A Yorktown type station was seen in the sky of a barren planet in the promotional music video for the Rihanna song " " .