And older game that people seem to like a lot is Sword of the Stars (2008), while despising the 2nd for lacking features and bugs aplenty. You can get it on GOG too, if you prefer, and being old makes it very cheap even out of a sale. I've tried it once but got slightly intimidated by the UI, but then again I barely spent 10 minutes in game (I also gave up on X3 the very first time I played, so...)

For a "lite" version of space empire building, Sins of a Solar Empire can probably satisfy you as well. It's an RTS, you only play skirmishes, but there's a lot of setting up new colonies, researching new tech, building stuff besides shipyards, propping up your fleet, etc. Combat doesn't require a lot of micromanagement, usually just using a capital ship's power every few seconds and defining target priorities.