The uplink is a station facility that makes its station a relay and a command post in the Infonet, the network that carries orders to ships. An order enters the Infonet at the command post with the fewest links to its ship, then travels from relay to relay one link a minute until it reaches a relay covering the ship's system.
An uplink covers only its own station's system; a Forward HQ also covers the systems one jump away. It needs no power, and relays while its station is not disabled. A repeater, a cheaper relay facility, forwards packets but cannot send orders.
It is built from a control unit, antennas and frames. Only a relay can hold one. Scrapping an uplink removes its station from the Infonet unless another facility keeps it a relay.