Walt I'm not sure to be honest. Although I do make a profit on the more difficult sectors it takes so much fuel to get to the next system and sometimes I had to make 2 stops to get to the next system. and besides, we all want to clear out the whole map....right 🙂
We were discussing upgrade modules in another thread, you could have an upgrade module(s) that make the $$ bounty or fuel reward more. (scrap processor?) so that you could have the option to go after the little ships and make enough to be slightly worth while, and make the drops from everyone else a bit better as well. but the module(s) would have to be LARGE and have other penalties like power, weight, and crew.