Thanks for the great feedback!
I looked into the two problems you found. I was able to fix the warp portal problem in this latest update. As far as the lives go, I couldn't replicate the problem, but I made a change that I believe fixes it. Will need some more playtesting!
I also adjusted the starting ships to spawn at the planets after half a second, which hopefully gives the player at least a moment to orient themselves.
The only problem that I know exists is that the game freezes occasionally. If you experienced that and can recall the situation when it happened, it would be super helpful if you could let me know.
Thanks again for the feedback!