Death will have consequences in the game. It does not matter whether or not you are a lifetime backer or not. Ejecting too often from the ship or get directly killed, means your characters health diminishes. Requiring cybernetics to keep the player alive. Still more "deaths" and not even 30th century cybernetics can keep the body from falling apart and then there will be a funeral.
Of course as a player you will be able to transfer assets to a heir and continue to play with a fresh character. Dread Captain Roberts indeed.
No this is not in game yet. It is an interative design process and right now death will only cost a few bucks in alpha currency. As the game gets closer to release I guess with each death it will be more expensive to revive in medical bay, until at some point the player will be forced to use cybernetics, with further cost increases until even that is no longer possible.
That is the planned game play. Of course the Smarties in this thread will scream that as someone who has backed the game I should be entitled to everything, for free in the game, but that is not how it will work.
I am not sad about it, what makes me sad are the people spreading misinformation.