I would be more interested in this mod if it was committed to it's goal. What's the point of making space
more authentic and challenging in some areas but less authentic and less challenging in others? At that
point you're playing wack-a-mole.

"MOD IS IN ALPHA"

Yea I'm playing whack-a-mole right now on it. Its still in 0.1 and I plan to finish a lot by 0.5

What parts do you feel need adding to or changed upon?

"MOD IS IN ALPHA" Would you like criticism when you do all the work to complete the mod or now? You have stated goals that can be described and talked about and that's what I'm doing.

Are you going for authenticity ('realism') or for challenge or both?

I like that you're making the trips take longer. Space should be a journey not a pit stop.
I like that you plan to do something about asteroids as having space littered with them is unrealistic.

I definitely would love criticism now :)

Tbh this was a project I started on whim, and I definitely get what you mean about:
"Are you going for authenticity ('realism') or for challenge or both?"
I actually question that myself sometimes

I am definitely going for both rn.

As for my plan with asteroids, I plan to make them scarce and mostly use the planets to support them. However that would be after I finish the core spaceship mechanics

As for my current stated goals:
- Modify the spaceship mechanics to introduce speed up and slow down motions (orbital slingshots are not a priority for now)
- Balance some factors around the new mechanics (ie resource logistics) (an example would be around spoilables, which I had to hotfix by making them not spoil in space)

I'm still trying out to figure out a concrete plan for spaceship mechanics. I'm trying to prototype them
My current ideas:
- Include either a reverse thrusters or a flip and decelerate motion for spaceships
- Have a maximum orbit speed around planets for item transfer