Don't get me wrong, they are doing a terrific job in really pushing the boundaries of PC gaming and space sims in general. It's just that the whole approach might end up doing more wrong than good, if they have to constantly tell people "we decided to scrap this", "this has been delayed", "we need to redo this feature from scratch because it currently sucks".
They alone have decided to do it via crowdfunding, and be extremely open with development while only having a vague idea on how demanding the "gamers" can be. In terms of the industry, all above mentioned issues are quite normal. Products get delayed, products get pushed from studio to studio and products fail (or get shipped in whatever form is deemed minimally viable). But usually there are not a million people asking every second "is it done? And now? How about now? Get it done already!".
If they fail, it could be the biggest blow to crowd funded projects ever and crowdfunding as a way of getting the impossible (or unlikely) done will be permanently mistrusted. Potentially it might mean that no project of this magnitude will ever get attempted via crowdfunding.
On the other hand, if they succeed: the creative spirit might finally triumph over merciless bean counting corporations and get put into the hands of the people (you know, the guys who actually end up using the final product!). It might pave a path to a new era of the gaming industry.