The instructions in this development update says:

Note: be sure to embark colonists aboard a Space Habitat station before leaving!

But, that doesn't appear as an option like it does with a regular transport ship.

Once the space habitat is built, you can Load it, but only if there are other colonies in this system.

A regular transporter can't disembark colonists to the space station, only to planets...

How do you populate this station?

Exactly as you wrote: from colonies. Immobile habitat can be loaded only from colonies in the system it has been built (or even only from colony it is orbiting, don't remember); mobile habitats (based on outpost transport or Tinkers mobile base) can be loaded from colony in any system much like simple transport or colonizer, then deployed over any planet, including uninhabited or unsettled with natives.

Just like you can't load a transport ship from another transport ship, you can't load a space habitat from a transport ship.

Do any of you folks make good use of the Habitat Modules?

I tried them out briefly ages ago and haven't given them a second look in quite some time.

Answering my own question, since others might not know either.

Yes, you can absolutely embark colonists into your space habitat transporter before setting out to build it. I just had trouble finding it.

What I had expected was something like on a regular Transport.



But, that option doesn't exist on the fleet screen for Habitat Transports



What IS available is the Ship Information button



And THAT'S where this feature is located



Here, you can load up the Habitat Transport while in a colonized system, then fly to a completely uncolonized system and inhabit (the orbit of) one of the planets. If there are native populations in otherwise uninhabitable systems, this is how you solve it.

Sorry if this was obvious to everyone else.

Dacarnix wrote:Do any of you folks make good use of the Habitat Modules?

I tried them out briefly ages ago and haven't given them a second look in quite some time.

I use them occasionally for two purposes: 1) get access to natives before Habitat Domes; 2) top off Tendao built-up with markets. Frankly, Space Habitats are not very useful.

With the mod to allow orbital population to actually produce work, I sometimes use them to make a system colonizable in the first place. They're also a way of preventing some type of population from growing, while keeping their output.

Very little usefulness all-around; and yes the interface is a bit clunky.

Interesting.

Having colonists in orbit of (for example) a Barren planet next to Taribor will allow you to colonize Taribor without Habitat Domes?

I never would have guessed that.

Or am I misreading you?

Dacarnix wrote:Interesting.

Having colonists in orbit of (for example) a Barren planet next to Taribor will allow you to colonize Taribor without Habitat Domes?

I never would have guessed that.

Or am I misreading you?

That's correct.

Huh. I never would have thought to try that.

Having a fully-colonized planet with a bustling society right next to Taribor or Wremmit doesn't allow you to colonize the planet, but having a space station with a loaded habitat module above that same planet does.

Does it work if the planet makes a space station with a habitat module in it? I suppose it would.

That information should be added to the Habitat Module tech description. I can't imagine this is something that's well-understood by the average player.

Dacarnix wrote:Does it work if the planet makes a space station with a habitat module in it? I suppose it would.

A space station is on orbit around the planet that built it, so if it can build one, it is already colonized... You have to build a station transport to put it in orbit of another planet, even if it's in the same system.

Yup, just tested it out. Got it.

You can't build one above random-planet-next-to-Taribor. It has to be above Taribor.

Basically, the Habitat Module's chief function is a sort of weird Colony Ship for Taribor/Wremmit, and it's cost reflects that function (being a slightly more expensive colony ship).