There are 'Sentinels' that patrol the planet and if they attack you you have to destroy them quickly to prevent reinforcements. They can have varying attributes depending on the planet you spawn on.I've been attacked fairly early on in one try but on a restart I was left alone.When you spawn in you can see basic info on the planet such as Sentinel behaviour/flora/fauna.I find them annoying so a weapon upgrade is in order to take them down quickly. I also see squadrons of ships fly over but so far they have left me alone.

I did have a trip into space which ended badly but quite honestly there seems to be so much to do on the current planet I'm on I could spend ages on it.It does help if your spawn planet has lots of Heridium close by as you need that to repair your ship.

Some stuff I discovered so far (and I feel I'm only just scratching the surface)

You can jetpack up sheer surfaces without using fuel so you can get to the top of those Heridium deposits for a great view.

You can remote call your ship from certain bases that have that feature.

Quite honestly,people who say there is nothing to do in this game either haven't played it or are unable to immerse themselves into an open world type of game.I do not regret the purchase.In fact I'm off out to buy an X-Box controller as I hear it's better for overall control.