Well the hoppers can launch themselves, that is what makes them so annoying. You could probably deploy a load of them as some kind of Flak Barrier. Nowhere near as effective as mine but its something. Besides the whole venting air on purpose was just a suggestion to give you some maneuvering ability in space other than towing it with gunships and dropships until you get some engines up. You got some real work ahead of you dude, the main thing is finding someone to stick around for it.Your only hope of getting away from Tattooine anytime soon is Echos Wakejump module (He can jump other nearby ships). Otherwise when the inevitable of the bad guys turning up happens you're going to be sitting pretty :P

I personally however, like the concept of what you are doing :P