I also read somewhere that there will be missions that you can take that come with a ship to use. So if you dont have a ship you can still do things to earn money to get another ship. But a lot of that is just speculation right now. The game isnt nearly there yet.

Right now to play you have to have a game package that comes with a ship and it is in alpha/beta so the insurance does not time down at all. So there is no possible way to play the game without a ship right now.