A big step in the right direction indeed.
I'd get rid of the characters though because it's misleading. People might think they will incarnate a character in a role playing game.
An exploding ship or an asteroid belt would do it.
I wouldn't spend time trying to design a ship either, let people use their imagination rather than imposing a ship they might not like.
You could focus on illustrating the concepts of Eonium, Crystal and Metal, create icons for each type of government, or even small icons to place next to population settings (mines, construction...).
You're on the right track, not arrived yet but running in the good direction