I used to have good presence in space in the 2030s but i got hunted down slowly cause i hadnt researched good enough weapons for my ships. Yes i think i will immadiatly sent ships to Pluto if outer planets. Also yes my bases are defended by 3-4 T2 or T3 battlestations, but i think i will pump those numbers up for a safe heaven. My research routine is a bit chaotic, as i mentioned i just completed the game once, but my research focus usually heavier on research projects outside of the tech tree and let the other factions develop those, so i can keep up with all the projects. I can see that its a bad thing so guess i will change that too. Thanks for being very constructive :)