Coming from Steam Support:
- Pick a room with some free space. For Room Scale VR, you will need at least 2m x 1.5m (or 6.5 ft. x 5ft.). The maximum distance supported
between base stations is 5m (or 16 ft).
- Make sure you have some room overhead, as some experiences may have you reaching above your head.
- Your VR area should be clear of furniture and pets – look for two corners of the room (or high bookshelves) opposite each other that
have a good view of this VR area. This is where you will set up your
base stations.
They also provide some examples of how it should be setup, with the small rectangles in the corners as the base stations:

Now if you're going to be sitting to play this game (which for Elite Dangerous, you probably will be), see step 6 in that link. There is a room setup option, where you select if you will be playing room scale or standing (which is also for sitting). Follow the instructions, and set it up to your liking.
I think the difficult thing is going to be setting up the base stations so that it can detect you as you move both during room-scale experiences and sitting/standing experiences. The support page says that you want two corners of the room that are opposite of one another, however you may have to change the locations of some of the stations, but that's really something you'll have to find out once you get the Vive.