I know that these ideas are quiet extensive, and I don't know how viable they are, but they seem quite intuitive and fitting for the mod:
1) Area fire should have its spacing reduced slightly - the current spacing leaves empty gaps where biters can survive righteous vaporization.
2) The 'Ion cannon' object on a ship should be an actual object, rather than a radar. Currently removing the object simply returns a radar. I feel like removing the object should remove an Ion Cannon from orbit but return an Ion Cannon object.
3 (or 2A)) An Ion Cannon's recharge time should be based on how long it takes to actually fill the Ion Cannon's energy buffer on the ship it's placed on, so recharge time can be improved by building a more robust vessel. (Maybe give it an inherent energy recharge speed - due to the fact that it requires several solar panels to be built.
4 (or 2B)) An Ion Cannon should follow the ship it's placed on. I built an Ion Cannon ship, assuming this was how the game functioned, sent it to Volcanos, and was disappointed to find