Sulaco-class Ship, Alien 3

[deezelboy]

As I recall, Rodenberry wanted the ships to land on planets, but they didn't have the budget to do it every episode. So they went for the far cheaper teleportation route.

(But, equally, if it's so cost effective to beam people down to the surface, why bother with spaceships at all?  )

To me it makes no sense for a ship of that size to come down out of orbit.  Afterall, once an object is in orbit it only takes minor energy adjustments to keep it from descending.  Landing and takeoffs consume just as much energy now as they did 50 years ago.

Yeah, but it's a drop in the ocean compared to the distances and speeds the ships have to cover just to do interplanetary travel, let alone interstellar. What's a couple of thousand kilometres extra if you've just travelled light years to get there?