It's indeed a feature that is part of the game.
Unfortunatly, full possibilities cannot be reached right now because the docking system sharing control of ship's part isn't working and need to be corrected before coming back in the game.
However, "multi-person ships" can still be achieved. But only one person is able to be in the core and control the ship's movements. Others can enter directly at the weapon/missiles computer which gives them the possibility to fire with the computer they have just entered ( so it's limited in using only lasers, or missiles but one at a time )
Have fun,
Elladan