If you're new to the game, you shouldn't play the beta version.

The beta version is mainly for testing and reporting bugs right now.
If you want to learn more about the game I suggest watching a couple of video tutorials. The egosoft created ones are linked in the game in the Tutorials menu already. A more extensive list, also containing videos created by players, is available in the X Rebirth wiki
here. Apart from that, the
X Rebirth wiki has a lot more information about different topics to offer. Of course, you can also ask specific questions about the game in the
X Rebirth Universe forum, which is the correct place for gameplay questions.