Speed, Thrust, Turn Rate, Energy, Health, Primary Weapon, Secondary Weapon.
That's it. This is an arcade game with arcade space ships. When talking about customizing ships, or allowing the player to design ships, keep in mind that the above seven attributes are all that a ship in SCO is. That's all you've got to work with. The designs of ships at this arcade level is a kind of art form, and it's mostly about the Primary and Secondary weapon/systems. Take those away and Speed, Thrust, Turn Rate, Energy, and Health are all that is left.
Not much of a "Ship Editor" in there anywhere, is there?
This is a very simple arcade game, with very simple ship designs. There are no destroyers, heavy cruisers, and battleships with a dozen secondary weapons, 6 primaries, and a dozen other ship systems. Just Speed, Thrust, Turn Rate, Energy, Health, Primary Weapon, and Secondary Weapon. That's it. That's a ship in SCO.
EDIT: And, of course, all of the attributes of the ship are almost entirely governed by the Primary/Secondary you choose to put on it. The ship with the most powerful "one-shot weapon" MUST be very slow and sluggish, for example. The weapon/device governs the ship attributes... so there really is not much to work with in terms of a "Ship Editor".
