These abilities are just as powerful as the active abilities, sometimes even more so.
What is more important is the passive abilities you gain at every stage. You can change your archetype after encountering a sufficiently advanced civilization. While this active ability is important, it is also flexible. Depending on how you play in all stages before the space stage, your species becomes a certain 'archetype.' Archetypes all carry their own unique, active ability that you can use anywhere in the space stage.
