Defensive Countermeasures of sufficient ability make it difficult to get sensor readings on the ship. A cloaking device though ... not sure they want to go there just yet. I'd imagine it'd be much like racs333's suggestion.
It would currently have to be a homebrew , personally I'd run it as a shield component that requires a expansion bay, with a size modification for detection.
They did this in FTL(faster than light).
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If I were going to do a cloak that kinda represented the way we see it in Star Trek or something, using the Klingons for example,
within the Starfinder phase system the cloak ship would have the benefit of either 'winning initiative' so they get to move last regardless of normal move order, reflecting their ability to stealth maneuver.
Alternately (but more difficult from a sense, I'll get to it), the game piece of the cloak ship is removed from the board but its path plotted. The other noncloaked ships still move normally, but the cloaked ship is not visible to the board.
On a combat round, it is assumed that the cloaked ship gets to appear and fire and raise its shields all before a target can respond. Reflecting that even in trek with computer assisted targeting, even when a cloaked ship pops out they don't just get killed.
In this regard, cloaking just works to provide hidden movement and maybe some favorable setups. But it doesn't prevent things like defenders using their turrets or appropriate arc weapons.
Science checks could be used to get better locks, potentially allowing piercing the veil and allowing shots on the cloaked ship while its shields are down or before they can raise them.
the 'totally remove the token from the board' stuff is a little more difficult because it requires trust that the virtual movements done by the cloaked ship (either as GM npc or pcs) follows normal rules of movement and don't just 'happen' to change to something more favorable. I'd think the 'cloaked ship always wins initiative' might be a better way.
The downside of cloaked ship always wins is what happens if the cloaked ship wants to stay cloaked and move again....
This seems like a scenario for which there is not a lot of support in the rules as written, but which could be accomplished in a way that would be exciting for your players with significant homebrew. Weirdly I remember there being a line somewhere in the book about running silent by turning off all of your communications systems in order to avoid detection, but I haven't seen anything on re-reading to support that. It sounds like the OP primarily wants to know how one would do this using RAW, to which the answer is: I don't think you can. Talk to your GM about letting the joy of homebrew into their heart.
I love the idea of adding ship systems to augment stealth. Replacing the shields, in particular, creates some really exciting gameplay and meaningful design choices when the players are building their ship. It might be interesting if you had to choose between allocating SP to either shields or stealth on a particular facing. Ships on that facing couldn't target you if they can't detect you. You'd probably have add stealth ships as something you could actively scan for. DC modified by the ship's stealth bonus. I think it's important to allow detection systems if you are making stealth systems as well. I would love to see other types of ship systems modified to include mechanics for stealth and detection, and expansion bays that interact with the system.
It would also be cool to work stealth and detection mechanics into the actions the players are able to take. Some actions should generate signature and introduce penalties to stealth, other actions should specifically boost stealth at the expense of course of having to devote an entire action to it - taking away from the pool of other actions your crew can take.
Examples by role:
Captain: All of the captain's current actions would inflict penalties to the ship's stealth. They would get a new action called Ominous Silence that would allow them to boost the ship's stealth.
Engineer: Repairs of any sort and the Overpower action generate signal fluctuations that can lower stealth, but diverting power is silent.
Gunner: I would give the gunners active sensors that can be installed to search for ships on various arcs of the ship with a special detection action that is only available if the equipment is installed. Firing a weapon of course would be devastating for stealth, so most of the gunner's other actions would be stealth-breaking.
Pilot: Failing a piloting skill check would result in the enemy getting a free opportunity to detect you. Some skills would increase stealth. This would add a lot to the tension of the moment. Maybe if you lose your stealth you would have to pull some kind of piloting maneuver to hide from your target in order to regain it again. But that might require there being something present to obscure your signal - a star or a planet or a debris field. You could call it "Get Me Closer To One Of The Big Ones."
Science: Balancing shields would allow you to redistribute stealth allocations as well. Scanning could also be used to attempt to actively detect an enemy vessel.
Furthermore, I would work signature cloaking into the damage rules for the ship. If you take damage to a system, it might cause you to emit signatures that would make you easier to detect. This would give the Engineer reasons to risk repairs in spite of the reduction to stealth, if there is a greater reduction in play from a damaged system. Of course you'd have to investigate all the bonuses and penalties and make sure that the system was balanced and fair. It's no good if you can get so many bonuses that nobody will ever be able to detect you, or if the penalties for ship damage or taking normal actions typically negate the entire benefit you get form the stealth systems. Balancing this could potentially be exhaustive, and might not be as easy to put together as a far simpler system. But with proper time and effort you could have a system that gets the entire crew involved in the stealth mechanics, and really makes the players feel like they made significant, meaningful gameplay choices when kitting their ship out for stealth.
I would honestly run this like a WWII submarine fight, and I think it would be really a lot of fun. But it would take a good deal of work. Possible content for a future supplement?
Yeah, I feel the easiest approach would be something like my, "cloaking just makes you win initiative when the other guys don't have cloak too' assuming the cloaked ship wants to do hit and fades.
if they just want to run, that should be a relatively easy out too.
I'd say to balance it out, a cloak would cost about the same as a shield system, or rather you have to have a cloak as good (as pricey) as your shields to represent the balance of being able to seamlessly shift them on and off. Then something like 'if they don't match, it could mean sometimes you decloak and can't raise shield well'
or somesuch
The Mass Invisibility spell can be used on any number of targets inside a 180 foot diameter sphere, so any Tiny or Small ship should fit, and as a GM, I'd be very willing to rule that it should work on objects, not just creatures, letting you bypass the object bulk limit of Invisibility, just as the spell already lets you make invisible infinite bulk of creatures.
I'd less prefer a cloaking field and more a Mass Effect Normandy style "cloak" system. Which for the Normandy was actually just a thermal cloak which stored all the thermal energy in the hull (instead of radiating it) and using a refrigeration system on the surface of the hull to keep sensor from picking it up.
It was visible to the naked eye, but space is huge and unless you were very close to the ship you wouldn't spot it.
Of course, what this really would require is more information on how sensors work to detect ships in the first place in Starfinder.
I think it's fine to turn a ship invisible as long as it's part of a larger system of hiding / detection, and as long as every action that could gain you some advantage increases your odds of being detected. And so long as enemies can also participate in the stealth mechanic. It's just a lot of work. A cloaking device that gives you a surprise round is also a way to do it, but it depends on what you're going for. If you just want a chance to sneak attack, then cool. I still like the stealth / detection homebrew idea. I think it makes for a tense, exciting and suspenseful scene and a whole different style of combat.