Do you have any early thoughts about how [escape pods] will function? Will they have maneuvering thrusters? Will you just be completely stuck in a coffin in space waiting for a rescue?
John CreweVehicle Pipeline Director, Foundry 42 UK
They're pretty Spartan things, so they will eject you out and probably just after a while steady themselves so you're not going at just a velocity forever, unable to be caught up. We'll work out a good distance to get you away from. Obviously, you don't want to be ejected out 10 meters and just left there. But the immediate plans are not for them to be like mini ships. If you want to escape on a mini ship, you should probably get a ship that can have a mini ship inside it to escape from.
starfarer.space · Star Citizen: Calling All Devs - Escape Pods & Agent Smithing