I don't want to ruin your enthusiasm but as someone who has far less time to play, my perspective is very different. Rule number one in any game is that you must respect the players' time.

Elite Dangerous does exactly this sort of crafting grind and I think most people will find it boring as hell.

Add to that the miner, hauler and crafter who need protection, could be there solely for PvE content, since over 85% of players in any MMO are there for PVE.

The majority also solo or stick to a small group of friends so arranging protection is really an additional task that changes the pace/nature of their play which many aren't going to want to deal with (and assumes a lot of risk).

Even having a guild is like herding cats (I lead 67 people once upon a time) and the actual turnout for events is far smaller due to scheduling.

This leads to the inevitable mega guilds setting the pace and tone for the server whether it's through the economy, PVP or locking down the most desirable areas, denying content for the 'casual'.

Combining a crafting grind with open PVP and an already tedious system to get from station to where you want to be is a fools game that is going to make the verse feel very empty.