This thread... man, I was playing with VERY similar ideas in my head for a log while and preparing to make a post about them (with some mockups, too) and then I found this. It's basically almost identical to what I felt was needed in game! And, frankly, I can't rep you enough for putting this together!
There are some details that I disagree on or have a different take, but what I ABSOLUTELY agree on, is that we need more in the UI. What I also would like to see is that some of the more involved stuff was made optional (via a toggle from in-game panel), like the orbit lines were done, etc., etc... Honestly though, we need more UI...