Bases are also good for population centers/cargo storage. If you have a planet that grows at 10% you can take the 10% per turn, of the population, and put them on the base. This way when you start colonizing you won't deplete your homeworld. This is especially true in the early game when your expanding like mad, AND all the benefits of the population will still be there. Giving these bases launch capacity is great for making them a defense base for fighters/drones. So many uses, so little time.
