Factorio Forums

why can't we put objects directly into the cargo bays instead of having to transport them to the space platform core?

Because you're thinking too small. You are imagining a hub with couple of cargo bays that block the access to the hub.

Imagine a platform hub, 100 cargo bays to the west and 100 cargo bays to the east.
Allowing inserters to access bays would mean you just allowed to replace 800 tile-long belts with bays, increasing throughput tenfolds while decreasing latency from over 100 seconds to under a second.
Or similar setup on a planet. You've just made all belts, trains, and bots obsolete.

That would destroy the puzzle & challenge of logistics entirely.