Thanks, this info helps out a lot!
About the small ship, I understand that it too can be damaged and destroyed in combat, so will I lose my items in the ship's inventory when this happens?
EDIT: Ok I found out the hard way after a giant flying monster blew it up for me. Inventory stays the same, I get ejected with a parachute and ship autorepairs+respawns itself somewhere on the planet while I simply have to wait it out on the planet.