Never heard of it.  Haven't read any David since the 1980's.  I think Hammer's Slammers was the last of his books I read.  For the most part this RP is going to be what the characters make of it.  My own add to the roleplay will be a 1980's style as that is what I know best.

I am still trying to come up with my own character.  I am debating on keeping the crew in the background and working with a space cowboy type ... or maybe some runaways from their respective starnations.  (Think defection.)

Much of the interstellar politics will come from an old rpg Space Opera, which was based on 1980's politics.  It assumed that there was an Exodus to the stars as various nations claimed inhabitable planets and started colonies.  It also assumed that many colonies were independent and started under their own charters.  Many colonies were lost and later rediscovered.  There are space pirates (who may find the Aphrodite a tempting target, but ultimately a bit too much to chew off).