Will the Herald's info-gathering gameplay come when it's flight ready, or will that come later?asked by Captain Kitty

That will come later. The Herald will be flight ready before info-running gameplay systems are in place. Only because gameplay systems are being prioritized not just by how fast the work is developing, but also by how many people it would affect and stuff. A gameplay system that would only pertain to one or two ships would almost certainly be a lower priority than something that would affect way more people, like cargo or salvage or mining and stuff like that. So the ship will almost certainly become flight ready before info-running game systems come online.