I've seen this request in a few other posts but have not been following closely enough to notice whether a dev replied to say anything about whether a functionality change here was on the list for future updates/patches.

I would certainly like a general ability to create 'upgrade chains' for ships so that I could roll out something like next-gen drives or weapons without having to scroll through a huge list of everything in that hull size or keep pruning out automatic designs or turning auto-design of (if you can even do that in GC3).

For the constructor problem, maybe it would be possible to have Requests queue up a new instance of the last constructor built manually?

I have been using Deathwynd's Asteroid Foundry ship. They are expensive, so I just build a couple with high speed and route them around my starbases. It's not perfect by any means but it beats the "request constructor" method, and they really look neat.

You could keep it simple to implement and still have the choice of constructors by turning the request-functionality around: Instead of a starbase requesting a constructor you'd have a shipyard sending constructors.

Could work like this: Insert into a shipyard build queue as many constructors of whatever type you wish and check the new choice "send to starbases". When a ship finishes the shipyard automatically sends it to the nearest starbase that can be upgraded. If you also added to this that the constructor automatically upgrades the starbase without asking the player it could all run in the background removing the starbase micromanagement problem.

True. Occasionally you need more specific control.

However, in the late game you can have 100+ starbases. At that point I'm not even thinking about the upgrade order of starbases or their modules anymore. It's just one continuous stream of constructors and you hitting the "upgrade" button for whatever modules are available until your wrist hurts...

Which doesn't mean you still couldn't want or need to have more specific control. Perhaps make it so that you can simply take control of any suitably near automated constructor terminating its auto-pilot mode and then using it to manually add any module you need? Or, alternatively maybe there should be build queue in the starbase, too, allowing you to fill it with modules (including those you haven't researched yet!) and the interpretation would then be that if there is an item in the build queue that can be built the arriving constructor automatically builds that but if the queue is empty it asks you?