Is teathers a misspelling or just a variance between British and American English? Also, why the specialized area required for lock-on (and what happens when the tethers are damaged from combat?) rather than simply locking on the hull?
Other thoughts that occurred to me:
* What keeps the station in place while the tractor beam reels a ship in? Is it an unknown property of physics or is there a reaction control system emitting micro-amounts of thrust opposite the force imparted by pulling the docking ship in?
* Did you want to throw a lampshade on the fact that ships rotate in place in time with the station rather than rotate around the station while maintaining a constant bearing relative to the station? I.E. do our tractor beams impart some kind of torque scientists have been unable to counter yet?