Probably a bad idea (feature creep), but I just had this thought:
What if we had a S&R office on E', that we could 'contract' to collect derelicts? I think this was suggested already are something a bit more in depth, but I figured a simplified version might warrant it's own post.
No in depth faction elements. All this would be is: talk to S&R rep in the E' office, get an astrogation point valid for 15 days. Hauling the derelict back to E' nets ONLY the recovery fee. While this might not seem very much of incentive, it could very well provide a small amount of cash influx early game, for those that find themselves hurting, and disenchanted with the mining loop.