Freighter Network

[Will]

If that's the case, then you can have something like the following:

-No resource production facilities
-Homeworld type spaceyard (call it a "Spaceport") constructs at a rate something like 2000/100/2000
-Spaceport produces 2000 organics/turn, and can store 2000 organics
-Spaceport has scrap efficiency of 110%
-Spaceport takes an extremely long time to construct, basically limiting it to Homeworld-only until expansion reaches the point that you can afford to spend time on building another one.
-Colony type spaceyard (call it "Launch Pad") constructs at a rate of 0/2000/0
-Launch Pad also produces 2000 organics/turn, and stores 2000 organics
-Freighter hulls cost 2000 organics
-All other hull types cost some amount of organics; say a Frigate could be 50 organics, a Heavy Carrier could be 500 organics
-Remove organic cost from almost all other components; "rare" components could have an organic component
-Add in freighter components, which "cost" some amount of minerals and/or radioactives; colonies with Launch Pads produce these at no mineral or radioactive cost. Colonies with Spaceports produce these at cost, but value is gained from "trade".
-Remove Resupply Depots, and replace with Carrier Battles-style supply ships/bases. These hulls will have some maintainence cost, all other hulls will have 100% maintainence reduction. The idea here is "maintainence" = "supply".
-You can keep orbital yards, but only at extremely low organic production, say 2000/25/2000; organics becomes a metaphor for manpower, so an orbital yard depends on the manpower from the Spaceport it orbits to construct.

So that's a very, very rough outline of what could be done. I would have to think some more about what to do with "extra" facility space on colonies, the base construction rate for colonies (without Launch Pad) and a bunch of other stuff I probably can't imagine right now. But that's the start of an idea.