satellites don't need to be able to dodge projectiles though.
the way fighters move in the game obviously implies more than one engine. the OP doesn't really know what he's talking about.
now that i think about it you'd need three assuming a non-turret primary weapon
"rudder" placed off-center in front or back to rotate your nose to track enemy as you orbit
lateral thruster to move sideways
primary thruster to keep from leaving the circle and to cushion against weapon recoil
I know perfectly well that for a space ship of any kind to be able to function in general, let alone combat, it'd need thrusters for movement in all six directions. I should've made it clearer in the OP; I'm not disputing that fact - though lateral/vertical thrusters would most likely be weaker, meaning slower acceleration in those directions. Anyway, my point is that the way they fight in Starsector isn't reflective of how they do so in any other representation of space combat, or real/simulated examples of naval aviation (Not that old and modern aircraft had any other option - speaking of which, even helicopters will generally attack in a dynamic fashion rather than trying to slug it out with whatever might return fire.). Restricting their movement is a simply a suggestion as to how to achieve the behaviour that I'd see as appropriate for small ships fighting larger ones that out-strip them in every way except speed.
Go play Freespace 2 and try to beat any level that has you fighting capital ships by circle-strafing them. In that, you also have vertical and lateral thrusters but none are as powerful as your main engine. You can't rely on them to effectively evade, or get you out of range of their guns before you take significant damage - for that, you need to point your ship and its main engine in a direction and go forwards. So, as it translates to attacking capital ships or even bombers with turrets - You fly towards the target, do your damage, turn back and fly away at full speed before you can be destroyed.