If I were a better programmer I would have had a go myself. I hope you do well with this project! There are some features I would love to see, if you don't mind me making suggestions:
Multiple empires
Wars (changes safe/danger zones and alters supply and demand of certain items)
Invasions (rare missions, safeguarding or attacking troop ships, which change the ownership of the planet if they land at the planet's colonies)
Colonization (rare escort missions, spawning new colonies if successful)
Orbital Bombardment (takes ages, rare mission assist/defend mission which can result in a colony being removed)
Exploration (cash reward for charting unknown system and bringing the data back).
... a lot to ask for I know, lol
Multiple empires
Wars (changes safe/danger zones and alters supply and demand of certain items)
Invasions (rare missions, safeguarding or attacking troop ships, which change the ownership of the planet if they land at the planet's colonies)
Colonization (rare escort missions, spawning new colonies if successful)
Orbital Bombardment (takes ages, rare mission assist/defend mission which can result in a colony being removed)
Exploration (cash reward for charting unknown system and bringing the data back).
... a lot to ask for I know, lol