There's plenty of indie space sims coming through the pipe. Space Engineers, Kerbal Space Program, Planetary Annihilation, Kinetic Void, Strike Suit Zero, just to name a few.

http://store.steampowered.com/tag/en/Space/

Good stuff to be sure (I love Kerbal, and kickstarted PA), but being picky, Planetary Annihalation is an RTS and Kerbal is not a fighter game.

There are a few space MMOs in the pipeline too. We're probably past the dark ages now.

But being picky, you didn't ask for fighter games, you asked for space sims :)

I meant like TIE fighter. :) A la jet sims.

I would would recommend X3: Terrain Conflict. There's much more to it than Tie Fighter or X-Wing though (but can arrange massive battles like either one). I loved the LucasArts Space sims, but X3 has been as good of substitute as I have been able to find. You not only get to fly fighter craft, but also command capital ships as well as buy/sell upgrades. It's sort of a Sandbox RPG space sim that also has a storyline if you want to follow that.

X series games also have tons of mods out for them. I know there was at least a major Battlestar Galactica one that was well done and would have to double check, but there could be a Star Wars Universe one as well.

I don't play many space sim games, but what about Freespace 2, FTL, EVE Online, Escape Velocity, etc?

Not the same really. Strike Suit Zero is somewhat close, as are the great FreeSpace 2 mods. Games that put you in the pilot seat are not that common.

EVE Online's fighting seems incredibly boring and static, the antithesis of TIE fighter's dogfighting gameplay. Great to read about the shenanigans though.

I'm a huge Escape Velocity fan, but those were the days of the X-Wing games; the last EV game came out in 2002.

Ooh, you're in for a treat. Elite: Dangerous will most likely be released this year. You can already pay to beta test if you can't wait.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE8B4KptyVI