Takeoffs and landings are safest done with 4 pips to shields and 2 pips to engines.
You won’t need weapons energy.
At 7.5km range from the station, request docking permission.
You should see a blue docking info tab appear in the middle of the HUD.
Aim for a point in front of the station’s docking slot and fly towards it.
As you approach the axis of rotation of the station, slow down to blue region and turn to face the slot.
Lateral thrust or offset aim your nose to center yourself in the slot (i.e., the slot should be the same shape on each side, indicating that you’re in-line with the axis).
Rotate counterclockwise as you pass through the slot.
Find your assigned docking platform (follow nav compass and the floating indicators) and fly directly to it.
When getting close, drop landing gear.
Fly straight at the center of the docking pad.
When the docking indicator pops up, align yourself so you’re parallel to the docking pad and pointing at the control towers.
The docking indicator should show you ship straight and level, with the nose pointing forwards (into the screen).
Move forwards / backwards and lateral thrust left and right to position the ship such that the orange X/Y indicator is in the center of the platform.
Lateral thrust down to touch down.
If you bounce, check landing gear is down.
Also try and lateral thrust up until the indicators disappear, and try again.