Is there a way to avoid hostile encounters in space?

Every now and then, I will receive the "Hostiles Detected" notification when I am nearby a planet and I will turn around, land, and wait for the hostiles to pass by. This situation is no big trouble at all when attempting to avoid a battle, but there are also times I will receive the notification when I have been warping into space and I am nowhere near a space station or planet.

When I am in the middle of nowhere - aside from reloading the last save or destroying the enemy ships - there is not much I can do to avoid the fight as I am unable to active my pulse engines when hostiles are near by.

When engage in a space battle, are there any tactics to avoid the battle all together?

Once you get the warning for hostile scans detected, you can warp to a different system before the pirates arrive and avoid battle that way. Granted you will need fuel in your hyperdrive ready and if there was something of interest in that system you can always warp back.

There is no apparent way to leave a dog fight mid battle, but if you are fighting in a wave because (for example) you attacked a ships cargo then the only way to get out of it is to fight the first wave and to then warp to another solar system or try pulsing to a nearby planet or space station. To help win the first wave you should always carry titainium with you so that you can have your deflector shield at all times during the fight. If you are just in an ordinary dog fight with no waves then there is no way to flee the scene unless you either die or destroy them. Another TIP if you don't want to end up in as many dog fights is to not carry valuable cargo not your ships inventory, this also means that there won't be as many pirates coming to attack you in the actual dog fight itself too if you have your valuable cargo in your suits inventory.