I ran my first game last eve (a random) and found that every single planet I scouted had either a fledgling colony, or a bunch of ships, or a pirate base. Not a one was empty. Is this common?

It makes it tough to expand when you can't go beyond your home planet till you've built up a reasonably tough enough fleet to take on 5-10 AI ships, much less a colony or enemy home planet.

Thanks!