Parsec Frontiers is not going to have a free-to-play model like you normally find on mobile games. Even though you also can play on mobile, it is better suited for desktop/laptop machines - and will run on both Windows, Mac and Linux machines in addition to mobile since it is browser-based.

So, like a premium game, you will need to spend some money to buy a spaceship and get started. The prices of spaceships will be determined by the community's supply and demand. If you know someone else who's playing then you can ask them to create a spaceship for you.

You will be able to work within the game, by doing missions/contracts where other players pay you to do tasks they don't have time or capacity to do themselves.

You can also make money by playing a lot, and by being good at timing your transactions. Also, if you are able to identify profitable trading opportunities you can also make a profit by trading.

So, many opportunities will be available to everyone playing - vast opportunities in a vast galaxy