An idea to deal with kitting

Kroom

My idea is very simple, is just adjust the weight of the weapons depending on the range they have, weapons with long ranges will be heavier than weapons with short range, so ships with long range weapons can always be catch by ships with low range weapons.

Lafiel

This won't change anything because this doesn't upset the relation between weapons. It would nerf long railguns and be unfair for missile launchers. Missile launcher don't necessarily have a large foot print. IRL they get rid of their weapons load every time they fire. This might be something for when ammo has to be bought, though.
Also with how thrusters are now it's only a minor obstacle compared to the past.
If you want to change the speed it's far more effective to nerf it with exponentially increased space resistance (similar to air resistance since space is filled with air 😆 ) This would affect kiters, orbiters and any type of fast ship.

Kroom

Lafiel i made a mistake i was thinking about density not total weight, railguns is already a very heavy weapon, more than it should, problably, it has a density of 4 for each accelerator, while the missile launcher and ions has a density of 1, i think this two weapons should have a density of 2 and 3 respectively. Cannons has other things to consider as they have a lot of hp so the weight they have is adecuated, problably.