Thank you for the detailed answer!
It feels like you have done a lot of serious work in this project. I came to similar conclusions. In the space theme, realism often interferes with entertainment. We have to make compromises.
But there is another doubt. It seems to me that there are some non-obvious smart solutions that could reduce the number of necessary compromises. These solutions are somewhere in the field of designing the player's interaction with the game. We just haven't invented them yet:)
I don't seem to be expressing my thought very well:)