So I could pause the game, while I do research, give fleet orders, and create logistics commands?

Yes, everything registers when you are in pause.....I sat to admire graphics while clicking some stuff at the same time. Worked like a charm. You can even get $$ from the market (I believe)

I bound it to spacebar, but I play on a laptop, so it's right next to the zoom keys and the mouse.  one thing to watch out for though, some things won't take effect until you unpause it, like the money subtracted for planet upgrades, so when you unpause you might notice you ran out of money in the middle and didn't get all your upgrades, also, with research, you have to unpause to select the next icon. i.e. research media hub, unpause, pause, research all stages of the first level culture upgrade, pause, unpause, move to the next level/icon, etc.