We have Mining/Security/hauling agents why not Explorations?
You are given special sites you have to scan down and have to hack the relic or data.
These sites can be exact like what is out there generically BUT instead HS missions are equal to Null sec but instead of killing you cause you failed like Covert sites, you fail the mission and it just does damage to your ship.
You can combine these with Salvaging too because Salvaging is under Exploration. So you find wreckage you have to Salvage or Hack than Salvage it.
Exploration missions would be cool, but your suggested rewards are way out of kilter.
IMO, mission agents in general should be changed to more of a job board type of thing so the player can pick something more suitable for them.
As such, I would suggest exploration agents would just post a bounty for certain items within specific exploration sites already in space. A Person without the bounty would just see the item as scrap metal. Perhaps we could get more sites in space as well to up the variety.
I never said the rewards would be “Covert” Null space type awards.
Just Difficulty of one. Make it so they give you a key that allows you to enter a gate that is at that scanned down area. You go through with your key and than its a site of random type.
Instead of blow up murder everything though it does damage. Kind of training grounds for newbros.
By no means would this replace a player going to Null Sec for the rewards. I think most it would do is a low possibility of +1 so if HS it MAYBE (depends on level of Agent) give 1 low sec reward. Low Sec gives same to Maybe Null Sec. BUT again higher chance of failure to compensate this.
I am a huge PvE but newbros get like no experience if they want LS so now they go there for exploration and just get destroyed by the sites cause HS has easy ones.
Part of the issue is inadequate information on the difficulty. Sure, they are listed with levels, but there is a vast difference in difficulty on some of the sites even within their own level.