I would say they're pretty equal, with enough differences to make them distinct.

You may know this, but the creator of Thrust was inspired by the original Gravitar. Thrust has a pretty unique mechanic with the fixed tractor beam / arm when you collect the pod.

This game has different missions, but none of them involve "carrying" an object. There's a "shoot everything" mission; destroy a generator and escape before it explodes mission; collect an object in a maze and get out again mission; and finally some variations on activating beacons (stay still in different places to charge a static object).

This game is quite challenging to play well, just like Thrust. If you like the controls and the precision of Thrust then you'll like that here. If it was specifically the pod handling then this may feel slightly simpler.

I loved the original Thrust and still find it plays well today. I'm also enjoying this, having missed it when it was around back in the day.

Hope that helps!