I was thinking and it came to me, I only need research for a while, then I use it for the contract. Can anyone figure out if it is beneficial to get research planets or mining planet for upkeep. BTW my mining 7264 units / hour and Research Production: 8310 research / hour

Start trading artifacts for KU or CTP.

At the highest level of mineral income (for which I don't think you really need that high of a level) you get about 35K cr/MP compared to 25K cr/RP from research.

40k/mineral net around rank 500. Toxics are 4x easier to make 15x than RP/AP, so I don't bother wasting space on cloaking them. I get about 500/hr on a 15x toxic or a gas (the gas though extra slots I use to cloak). However, due to storage constraints I prefer RP. Also anyone who hasn't finished the tech tree gets more benefit from tech or income option of RP.