Hi
marcus_0571
Back in 2018 the game was still recent and Stef himself didn't expect to work on it for so many years. The expansion was then giving access to bigger parts, new engines, docking ports and extended build space. Since then players owning the full bundle also got access to all new parts (up to 12-wide), planets and skins for free.
After nearly 4 years of free updates, Stef chose to make this new feature a separate expansion. I hope you will understand his choice, we apologize for the inconvenience and we thank you for your early support.