Frame

The space frame, also called a ship chassis is a skeletal structure made of strong and flexible tecton beams around which a spacecraft is built. This structure is designed to absorb and distribute intense forces that spacecraft experience while maintaining its shape. It also serves as a scaffolding to which other systems and features such as a power grid, engines, pressurized cabins, and armored hull plating can be easily mounted. A frame is the first and most important part of constructing a spacecraft, and should it bend, buckle, or fracture, it most likely results in the complete and irreversible destruction of the craft. Interior pressure is likely to explode the habitable portions, damaged systems are likely to ignite flammable components, and any significant acceleration could tear even the most massive structures apart.