Not like NMS, the universe is built and not procedurally generated. You can explore and find cool things like derelict ships and stuff like that that can be repaired and taken over.
While NMS is an exploration game, the X series is a space sim but it’s also a trade empire management game. The economy is real, for a faction to build ships (either for themselves, or for you) they need all the necessary resources and component factories. If you (or the Xenon or an enemy faction) blows up their miners and their refining stations and they can’t make hull components anymore… well, the go without. There are wars being fought all the time. You can either engage in them yourself or just profit off of them. Factions can lose and rebuild space stations. You yourself can build factories and space stations, command fleets of warships, miners, and trade vessels. You also fly around and pew pew stuff.
So yes, there’s exploration in the game but it’s a fundamentally different type than NMS. I’m exploring because I’m looking for opportunities, resources, new races, etc. You can find some valuable salvage out there, including the derelict ships that I mentioned. And those derelict ships aren’t randomly generated either, they’re in fixed locations so if you can find them in one game and remember where, you can find them in your next.
There’s very little like the X series out there, it’s unique. It has a lot of breadth AND depth. That comes at a cost, as there’s a fair amount of jank like Brian was mentioning. There’s a learning curve as well. But if you can get the hang of it it’s pretty amazing.