Great game so far.
I've played Ascendancy which I liked and I've played MOO which I didn't like, but this game seems to fit nicely between the two.

Not sure if there's time but I think the interface could still use a little tweaking.
(mostly minor things)

1. The view ships/planets button only toggles on, not on or off like all the others.

2. Is it possible to put the menu buttons of the View ships/planets screen at the bottom of the screen instead of at the top? Most mouse clicking is at the bottom half of the screens 90% of the time and this would make it just a little easier and more efficient. (Just a small issue)

3. The Research screen. When this is maximized to just show the research techs, it would be nice to be able to scroll this screen instead of clicking and dragging constantly.
Also, show research time in this window would be very useful instead of switching screens back and forth to see how long the research is.

Like I said, just some minor things in my view.
Great game.