Update:
Maybe something is broken? I don't know, but it's been going at 25 seconds for several hours at this point (probably 6 or more) and the interval has yet to change. Is it possible I messed with some setting or should I just let it go overnight?
What you are probably encountering (and is a problem that happens with Aurora4x rather often) is that 2 NPRs (that you cant see) are fighting eachother, and the game is playing out their combat. And well, you're just stuck with the wait until someone wins. It sucks, but
usually they'll wrap it up in a while if oyu leave the game running overnite.
Couple things you can do to counter this problem though.
1, when starting a game, on the right side, tic that there are 0 NPRs present at start. Thing is, even if you are still hanging around "Sol" putting around with a couple geosurvey ships, an NPR that was made at the start of the game will be hard at work exploring, entering new systems... and triggering other NPRs that do the same.
Making sure that there are 0 NPRs at start will allow you to take all the time you need playing around in Sol without having to deal with major slowdowns due to NPRs. They can still become a problem later on in play, but thats the nature of the game. There is some stuff being talked about as ways to counter these slowdowns.
2, somewhere, and I can't find it right now, but when I get up to pee at 3 in the mornign I'll remember where its hiding.
There is a button, that will force the game, to stop simulating all other systems, but the 1 that you set it to. This will make your 25 second increments go away, and you can continue playing, but you'll be trapped to 1 system actually running properly. Can't find it though.
Honestly, your best bet is #1