Star Trek: Every* Starbase Ranked Worst To Best
12. Regula 1
Regula 1 housed Project Genesis, the team behind one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the 23rd Century, while simultaneously being one of the most devastating weapons ever devised. The station itself was poorly equipped to handle anything other than scientific research, evidenced by its inability to ward off Khan and his minions when the Reliant arrived overhead.
The station was a reuse of the Orbital Office model from the first film, inverted, with some of the pods realigned to look different. That model was designed by Andrew Probert, who added the copper cylinders (then) above the station, intending them to be used to house plants and fruit. This, he believed, would help produce oxygen for the people stationed aboard.
The model would go on to see several more re-dresses, proving that it was a sturdy and dependable design, decades after its introduction. There is also speculation that a battered, run-down version of this type of station served as the location for Starbase 80. Though it seems a little unfair on the Regula model to tar it with such a dark, dark reputation, one can only dream that its legacy will rise above that hellhole.