STO - Q&A @ Official Site

The developers of Star Trek Online have answered questions on Star Trek canon, customization, music, exploration and dynamics of the game world, all submitted by the community. Here's something on exploration:

If I'm not in the mood for ship combat, gaining Starfleet's favor or earning credits doing jobs for Quark, in what ways will I be able to advance my character doing what I want to do most: exploring the galaxy?

Craig "Zinc" Zinkievich (executive producer): Exploration will never take a backseat in Star Trek Online. Heck – in all the series, Starfleet is always sending captains off to chart new systems or classify nebulas. So we don't view exploration as a "break" from other gameplay – it's integral. Expect to be encouraged to boldly go! And as an incentive to explore space, discovering new civilizations is one of the major ways to open up new resources and equipment and make new alien recruits available to you, your fleet and your faction!