This is a funny question, but I use the word colony, which it is not. I cater to the human perceptions. Humans are very comfortable with the idea of colonizing the space. Having a colony in space is a collective human dream. In fact, what you probably will create is a collaborative team of humans and aliens working on certain project. It could be a broadcasting station, a station, a research station, a base, a research group, a laboratory, a school, an educational institution, a committee (note we are suspicious of committees because our bureaucracy is typically hijacked, still committee is a good idea, it is a very democratic way of doing things), a village, a settlement. I like the word settlement much as it is not a colony yet, but has some positive sense in similar direction. A research base, a scientific base, - these terms are ok, but are reminiscent of military bases, which you may want to avoid. I would recommend words: colony, settlement, station, team and group. In that order, "colony" being easiest to accept to humans in space and to humans on Earth.