Next patch is a bit of a hype train, GrimHex the awaited pirate station is to be added into the current PU by patch 2.5.
https://gfycat.com/FluidGrouchyEastruss ... singhounds
EDIT/
Grim hex was apparently an old mining station that has since been abandoned and is now used as an outlaw haven. I don't believe this will be a protected zone like the Port Olisar is, being able to shoot people inside this station is apparently going to be a thing. I'm interested to see what sort of social experiment this will be. Some are calling for griefing while others think that the pirates will police themselves pretty well.
My personal belief on this station is that there will be certain areas inside the station (like where shops or ship spawning terminals are) will be protected by "pirate guards/npcs" (once they bring AI functionality on that is) these guys probably wont fine you or anything for killing people on the station however I imagine if you start shooting the place up they will probably shoot you as well. As CIG have said there will be areas inside the station that you can have full out firefights with others.
I'm anxious to see what kind of hell this place will be. The door underneath the station has also been confirmed not to be a landing zone. However the "force field" that wide door has looks like the exact same force field seen on the race tracks. The current theory is that participating and watching races on the PU will be a thing.
However most of the hype is around the current news that was dropped on us.
We are to see the implementation of the Cargo system by this year, as well as the introduction of hand tools for salvage and mining. However what I find the most exciting is that they have finally given us word that work is going into improving the overall network code. The expected result will be higher frame rates and instance transfer server side. Finally bringing this into the MMO status it claims to have. As right now I'd consider it just "Online" this network release has been aligned with the 2.7 release. According to their internal release date goals this should be a three month wait. However like we saw with 2.4 this is not always the case. Oh I forgot to mention that 2.7 is supposed to bring a full star system for us to explore as well.
This is meant to be an exciting year according to CIG, if all goes according to plan it most definitely will be.
Chew chew for the hype train.