Last time, I reverted a save, and MUCH later, the issue happened again.

But this time, I think I’ve noticed a common thread between these two instances of the bug cropping up.

The last time it happened, one of the things I did involved doing a survey quest on a random planet with life, with an active companion (one of the Constellation companions, in this case).

The second time, I was on a genetic sampling quest (not spoiling how you get that classification of quest) on another such planet with another Constellation companion.

I don’t know how much of this common thread could be causing this bug, but for those who’ve had to revert saves over it, I hope this revelation helps somehow, wether through general caution or further testing.