Things to do :

1- Sell your SRX-250 quickly. If another SK sells it b4 you, the price will go down.

2- Remove the lasers from your Moskitos (they go directly to the tradepost) and sell them. Export your Moskitos and sell them too.

3- You don't have nav bonus, so buy an extra drive. Buy the Salvage pod too. If you have anough cash left (depends on your trade bonus) buy the warp drive. You should have anough $$$ after killing your first pirate.

4- Here's my Shuttle config : 2 drives, shield, salvage and Laser. Yes, no solar power. You dont need it to kill one pirate ship.

5- Take 65+ stuctures and find (do it with a probe so you dont waste moves) a planet to built and Electro plant outside your home sector. Your shuttle will have : 2 drive, warp and Cargo bay. Built on a planet with at least "a lot" of aluminium oxides. Also find a sector (dont immediatly go for the one outside your home sector) with a lot of star systems. You have 24 FLEETS of pirates to kill. After that they will stop coming. So the bigger the sector, the more pirates fleets with more then one ship will come increasing your gains of salvaging.

6- When you found the best planet and sector, built a stationary fleet to refit your ship and start killing again. When you have anough ship structures salvaged, built a Dekko to kill pirates in 2 sectors, then 3, 4...

7- You dont have to buy an additional salvage pod (or drive, sheilds, laser), just go to refit your fleet and pass it to the other one. You are safe until turn 200 anyway (carefull of the alien, LOL).

Follow this and you should be ahead in the game.

THIS IS NOT FOR NEWBIES. Newbies will need the solar panels to kill the pirates cause their attack bonus is not high anough (same for Merchants).

This is how I start my games. I probably told you too much, LOL