Not having played it with people yet, I can only speculate but I believe there are probably two levels of player interaction:
1)the typical level of indirect interaction you see in many Euros “Damnit you took the cargo I wanted from the market!” - and also it is possible to move the patrol ships in such a way to affect other players.
2)There is some direct interaction: you can get a bounty on a character on someone else’s crew, and if you attempt to capture them, that player can defend them. There are also some cards that allow for direct player to player combat in certain circumstances.
I feel about this solo game the way I feel about Terraforming Mars solo, except the Star Wars license adds a lot of flavor. TM solo and Outer Rim solo both seem like good ways to learn the systems of the games, and to get a sense of the various decks, cards, etc. However, playing with people is almost certainly better.
Solo play was not my first choice, and in fact I had no plans to play it solo when I bought it. But, needs must, etc. I feel like when I do get it on the table I’ll be able to both play and teach it better due to solo experience.