The last thing this game needs is players building and owning stations. Having the universe turn into a minefield of player owned assets, with some not letting you dock or refuel because the owner is an 11 year old kid who has been sent to bed early for swearing, will not a good game make.
And why planetary landings? People keep on thinking this will be like Star Trek or something with loads of worlds to explore. What we're going to get is the same 12 or 13 worlds, skinned differently, repeated endlessly. That's not a criticism of Frontier, that's just acknowledging the limitations of the technology of today as well as the small size and resources of Frontier compared to, for example, Rockstar or Ubisoft.
As for the first bit, I think it comes down to implementation. To me, the right approach is to set out specific stations that can be controlled in order to allow players to entirely avoid player controlled stations. I would think the right way to do it is to use existing game mechanics and fleshing them out. For instance, we already have a system for minor factions to control a station. A player or player group ( called a Fleet, perhaps) can align itself with a particular faction. Then the only thing to create is a new kind of conflict zone, called something like a Station Control Conflict Zone. Each instance of this conflict zone would have multiple goals to be achieved in order for the CZ to contribute to a station control progress bar.
I know that's kind of fuzzy in the details, but let's play it out as it would be handled in-game. Assume my Fleet is aligned with the Freedom Party of LHS 3447, and we control an Outpost in the system. You have been working to help out the Bondage Party of LHS 3447 (notice how my group is all that is honorable and pure? That's how it works when you're the one writing the thought experiment, you filthy slaver you), and have put the system into Civil War. Now, in addition to the standard CZs that appear, a SCCZ can be found near the Stations that the Freedom Party has. By entering into those CZs, you can advance your party's influence in the system while also giving you the ability to directly take control of that station, if enough of those instances end up in your favor. So you drop out of SC into the station control instance, and select a side. When you do, a multiple-stage mission is added to your computer screen.
The overall goal might be to stop supplies from reaching the station. Phase 1 is to destroy X number of enemy interceptors. The instance would be populated with smaller enemy ships, ranging from Sidewinders up to Vultures. Phase 2 is to attack and destroy a number of transport craft, that are escorted by larger ships. Range these from Type 6 with Viper escorts up to Type 9s with Python escorts, the more difficult ships worth a greater number of points toward the phase 2 goal. The other side is then simultaneously trying to defend these same vessels. There are multiple options for additional phases, but the main thing it to make sure that none of the outcomes are a direct overtaking of the station. For instance, if you are successful in stopping supplies, it needs to still make sense that if most of the iterations go against your team, you don't take over the station. The only instance I can think of that would work is if the end stage was for you to escort a group of Dropships into the mail slot, which completes the goals, but leaves the outcome of the on-station firefight up to interpretation.
Say you're successful in your instance, as are a majority of the other instances for your side. My stalwart, pure, honorable and handsome (not to mention humble) faction is removed from station control, to be replaced by yours. At this point, you are given control of some of the station functions. Members of your group or those with allied ranking with the controlling faction are given priority access to landing pads, moving them up in the queue to others. You cannot, however, deny landing access to people, which prevents player griefing. Some of the functions that I can see being controlled are: 1. Commodity pricing in a macro sense- you can increase prices of one particular good type (Ores, for example) by a percentage, while decreasing the prices of another type by the same percentage, but not directly influencing prices as that would be largely market driven. 2. Available Menu Options- Given an investment, opening up Black Markets/Shipyards/Reload and Repair/Outfitting functions, limited by station size and populations.
I can also see aesthetic changes being available. Perhaps all the screens that we see when we dock can be changed to match a player group symbol (selected from a variety of predetermined choices and colors). It could be all the announcements within the stations could be selected as well, giving you the ability to use the voiceovers that you prefer.
The key is to make it unobtrusive and to prevent a group from making large detrimental impacts on others.
As for the second bit, planetary landings by themselves don't really help anything. What we need to have is a mission overhaul in addition to planetary landings, so there are a variety of things to do while there. Personally, I'd rather see them focus on what they have and on EVAs first, but we'll see how it plays out.