Thought I'd give ripspace a go... on my first turn, all systems were open (I think). Now they're all locked! Is this normal?

Also, when the systems were open I went in one managed to do about 10 turns in one system (and colonise a planet) in the space of 10 minutes but am now stuck in galactic mode. How long does a galatic day last?

I think the galactic failed to run over the last 24 hours, but usually it seemed to run about every 8 hours.
As for the systems being locked, most aren't actually. I think that's just a bug. Locked systems should have a big red announcment and if you click into one system you should get more accurate reports on what's open and closed when you go back to the galactic.

I have the same problem when I first load up a turn report, all systems appear to be locked. Once I click on one of my ships in a system, then back to galactic, everything is fine. Galactic turns are supposed to process about every 6 (?) hours. System turns process at 48 hours, or once every race in-system has submitted orders. So if you are the only race in the system, you can take a turn in that system every few minutes or so.

Spot on. Every 6 hours.

The locked thing is a bug.

And yes, the game got stuck in an infinite loop for most of today, sorry!

ps welcome to ripspace!

Building new ships: Do any units HAVE to be on the outside of the ship, i.e. mass scoops, drone launchers... or does it not matter?

doesn't matter where you put the systems as long as there's a connection between them.