Leiji Matsumoto, a highly influencial manga-ka who was most influential during the 70s when many of his series got made into anime:
Space Battleship Yamato
Captain Harlock
Galaxy Express 999
Queen Millenia
His work was massively influential, and many of those titles still populate best anime of all time as voted by japanese fans. He made lots of space opera shows, and there was some cross-over between them. Later shows tried to enforce even greater cross-over, and the canon is labeled Leiji-verse.
That said the guy kept himself busy, and they still make anime in this setting. Modern efforts include Captain Herlock, Galaxy Railways, Space Symphony Maetel, Queen Emereldas, Maetel Legend, Cosmo Warrior Zero, Gun Frontier (most relevant to Desert Punk). Though I have always wanted to see the early stuff, only Yamato is completely available in some english form (on fansub, but you might also be able to find the dubbed/edited Starblazers around too) there are some fansubs for Captain Harlock & Galaxy Express 999 too. Well worth checking out.
The modern stuff is more readily available, most of it got licensed and is available on import. Hell they are even making a second season of Galaxy Railways.
I would kill for translated versions of the original shows though.