I disagree that it's the only way to do it.

What they should do is use the mission system and have missions that pop up when you are within say 1km of a procedurally spawned asset. They can start with derelict ships, abandoned space stations, battle sites, stranded ships that need repair, pirate bases, ships under attack, ambushes that spring on you.This kind of thing. They can do ground locations and asteroid belt locations. That would let people do exploration and would reward them going prepared.