Ah makes sense, I should have made it clear that you can actually turn back if you get cold feet during the spaceship sections, I have actually taken care that so it's actually quite hard to set yourself into an unwinnable state, the game even has a feature that will give you "pity money" if you save while having less than a certain amount of cash and an empty inventory.
Though having a short "Galaxy Guide" to get players started might not be a bad idea, it also gives me a good opportunity to dump some lore on the players.
If a item is for sale, it means it's at least below it's base price (I think dark matter is the sole exception to this due to it having such a slim potential profit margin), so if you take note of the price and only sell for profit you should be making money rather easily.
I agree, I should look into balancing the monster amount, my intention has been to try to strike a balance on the amount, so players need to consider the added risk of traveling short roads to save time.
I considered adding fuel, but decided against it as it could be a great source of frustration if you're not familiar with the game mechanics beforehand.