That’s correct! Each site has an associated fast travel location and artifact to collect. After a while you’ll find all the artifacts, and additional sites you discover will give you a Simplex instead. This is generally how all the worlds will work. In the upcoming new world there are mountains to climb, in the following there will be caves to explore, and so on. Doing so will progress the story and offer rewards.
By the way, I reflected on your question, and made some changes in today’s update based on your feedback. The structures now have a unique sound in scan results. And collecting the artifacts will automatically discover them. There is still more work to do, but I hope these changes help.
Cheers!