Right now, space combat in The Old Republic is on a rail system, meaning that you cannot fly wherever you want to, but you're on a predetermined path and it's up to you to destroy as many enemy vehicles as you can before you come to the end of that path or are killed. Despite being on a rail system, space combat sounds to still be dynamic and a good way to spend some time and get the heart rate elevated.
If, at some point, space is expanded into a free roam type idea, this position will expand and become drastically more important. For the time being, consider it a research and development type idea on what's going on with space combat and to best succeed in this environment.