I like Space Combat in the spirit of how Bioware intended it, to attempt to mimic the feeling of the space battles we saw in the Star Wars movies. We saw them, for the most part, from the inside of Luke's cockpit, or from the Falcon, or inside Obi-Wan's fighter. In other words, pretty much the kinds of ships we're flying now, small, maneuverable craft with somewhat weak weapons pitted against both fighters, frigates and capital ships.
As it stands, Space Combat in this manner does it's job. It doesn't do it brilliantly or exceptionally well by any stretch of the imagination, but it does the job. As an earlier poster mentioned, it deserves a C grade. Not bad, but not great.
If Bioware were to change Space Combat, I hope they would keep this implementation as a particular type of mission. I realize it's difficult to switch playing styles sometimes, but these really do well for trench-run type or climatic battles. Makes me think of The Force Unleashed, how boss battles were fixed camera, forcing the player to change how they controlled their character. In a similar manner, these types of missions could be the epic battles, while off-rails combat could exist in other forms.
It would be prudent to be realistic, however. This game is not Star Wars: Galaxies. It is not a make your own fun kind of game like EVE is, or partially how SWG was. It is a story-driven game, and as such, missions need to have some kind of story behind them. Everything Bioware does, from the maps they design to the missions they write, has a purpose. Maps don't contain many extraneous elements, the rooms in gigantic manors are shut and barred but for those we need to clear out or interact with. We play in a very guided world. Having free-form space combat, and especially free-form space travel and auxiliary missions, would be contrary to the design ethos that Bioware uses for its games and against the tone that this game has already set.
If you don't believe me, put in your old copy (or pick it up for cheap from Steam) of Knights of the Old Republic, or Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect and remind yourself what the style of Bioware is. It's not free-form, it's not go where you want/do what you want kind of game play. It's not Skyrim or X3 or Eve Online. It's guided storytelling with purpose-driven maps and action.
With that in mind, Space Combat as it is makes perfect sense. Does it still want for improvement? Oh yes! Is it going to go away, however? Probably not.