Everything is built on the ground (though space stations are assembled in orbit), takes off from the ground, and lands on the ground (though sometimes, only once). Some craft are hard-surface capable, others water-only, though most are both.
There is this annoying bug that allows tractor beams to lock onto shipyards and "move" them around -- even steal them completely! Steve refuses to fix it, so I use SpaceMaster to set things right.
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In other words, "cannon lore" is whatever you decide it is. Even if you sometimes have to fight the software to make it so.