Orbital Maneuvers in the Dark

TIL that frigates do more than just go on missions for you. They can do things for you while cruising with your freighter. Per the wiki:

The five types of frigates are as follows:

Combat Combat Specialist - Higher Combat capabilities through the basic trait and potential unique traits. Can assist the player during space combat by warping nearby and sending out friendly sentinel ships.

Exploration Exploration Specialist - Higher Exploration capabilities through the basic trait and potential unique traits. Can activate its Artifact Scanner to find the location of an Ancient Ruin in the current system.

Industrial Industrial Specialist - Higher Industrial capabilities through the basic trait and potential unique traits. Gives player Magnetised Ferrite when boarded.

Trade Trade Specialist - Higher Trade capabilities through the basic trait and potential unique traits. Gives player Chromatic Metal when boarded.

Support Support Specialist - A unique frigate that specializes in fuel supply instead of abilities. Each fleet should have one to conserve fuel which can further be improved by later traits. Gives player Condensed Carbon when boarded.

Also, the frigates seem to be more robust when it comes to missions. A damaged frigate doesn't cause the mission to be scrapped, and frigate fuel seems to be cheaper and easier to make. Managing the fleet, at least, is giving me something more to do.