From what i've gathered the plan is to allow players to make ships how they want, with some realistic requirements. So for instances you can make a tiny one person ship but if you make the cockpit too small they can't get in. There are components that people can make that aren't visible that people can apply to turn the item into a ship item such as an engine. To make it easier you can sell the items you've made. So for people who are not artists or programs can either buy whole ships or piece one together. This also means that optimizing placement of the ship items will be crucial. Sure you might get some thrust from an engine near the front, but it will probably be more efficient to have it near the back. So in theory you could make some incredibly fancy, powerful ships if you know what you are doing or slapstick one together and ride the junker off into the sunset.