Would it be possible to have a job-board in the outpost where people could post their missions/quests (From steam workshop, possibly?) When you accept the job, it can be "uploaded" to your logbook and it can give you custom coordinates to get to the planet. I'm not sure how rewarding would be gone about.. Possibly just pixels?
This is such a good idea, it make a great deal more sense than chasing round an NPC in a room full of other npcs whilst mashing E.
Brilliant idea! I'd add an interesting mechanic to the gameplay and more drive to get higher tier objects so you can accomplish these missions.