[Space] and [UT] for New Space Opera

[Agemegos]

In a thread in Geek Culture, doctorevilbrain asked:

• What is the difference between space opera and new space opera?
• How would you use GURPS Space and GURPS Ultra-Tech to run a new space opera campaign?

Unfortunately the discussion among the geeks in Geek Culture wasn't as specific to GURPS as doctorevilbrain would have liked, and I think a lot of the masters of doing stuff with GURPS missed it. Therefore, and because I'm interested in the question myself, I'm re-asking the second question here. What tools from the Space and Ultra-Tech trays of the toolbox are useful for new space opera gaming? What options, setting switches, tech paths, gadgets, generation procedures etc. from Space and Ultra-Tech would be good to use in a new space opera campaign?

As for the first question, the geeky discussion of subgenre boundaries is perhaps best left in the old thread, in Geek Culture.