You can't trade with xenon, allowing it causes other problems.

I've found that is is possible. Just in a non direct fashion.
Auto miners and auto traders will trade with the non player Xenon stations.
They do not sell ore and silicon but they do buy it.
They do buy and sell energy cells.
You don't really need money unless you plan on repairing some faction reps and expanding out in that direction.
HOWEVER. Having your base set up to also list it's ore and silicon for sale allows you to assign mining ships as traders, where they will then auto trade ore and silicon to non player Xenon stations, doing this aids with keeping Xenon fleets strong and with expansions.

Originally posted by AngerMittens:

I've found that is is possible. Just in a non direct fashion.
Auto miners and auto traders will trade with the non player Xenon stations.
They do not sell ore and silicon but they do buy it.
They do buy and sell energy cells.
You don't really need money unless you plan on repairing some faction reps and expanding out in that direction.
HOWEVER. Having your base set up to also list it's ore and silicon for sale allows you to assign mining ships as traders, where they will then auto trade ore and silicon to non player Xenon stations, doing this aids with keeping Xenon fleets strong and with expansions.

ok

It is also possible to have solitary mining ships, they will trade with the Xenon too. Unfortunately, they don't work reliably with my own stations/construction sites, but maybe there's just a wrong setting. Also, the Xenon will build ships on your dock, and if you set a budget to your construction site, they may deliver materials.