That is my hypothesis, as well. Ever since the "Orders" tab made its debut with 0.9, people have been speculating that we'll be able to create specific sub-fleets that do tasks for us. Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up for anything too outrageous because if the Orders tab becomes the optimal way to destroy bounties, explore, etc. it's bad for gameplay.
I doubt it. It is evolution from being a dog (of the state) with no respect to space lord. Part of being a space lord is sending other dogs to do things you cannot be bothered with. I get sick of babysitting worlds, and I want to send fleets to deal with that madness while I get to do more important things like Red Planet quest or plunder rare loot.
Sending fleets to do base bounties is nice because the bases are the cause of the babysitting crisis. I cannot spend much time doing what I want before the fire alarm sounds or Bat-signal goes up and I need deal with the problem personally because no one else will.
That said, if Orders becomes a huge money sink or bribe by another name, then total core kill might remain the best idea after I get sick of babysitting.
I can't imagine the Orders tab doing much more than supplementing the player fleet somehow because anything more than that would incentivize the player not to fight, which is the antithesis of the game.
I do not want to be forced to chase whack-a-mole zombies (pirate or pathers) for nearly the entirety of the game because if I ignore them, something burns down. If whack-a-mole will not be dialed back, then I want much of the babysitting delegated to NPCs so I do not have to play babysitter.
