SpaceX is on a trajectory to remain the most dominant player in space launches for years to come as it makes strides with its heavy-duty Starship rocket program.

"Bottom line, somebody in the Trump administration is going to say 'we want NASA and the private sector to collectively, as sort of a national space enterprise, we want them to go further, we want them to go faster, we want them to go more frequently, and we want them to go less expensively," Muncy said.

If you're looking to take a chainsaw to the federal government, Musk seems perfectly suited to the job. At Twitter, he eliminated a staggering 80% of the staff — over 6,000 people. At Tesla, he cut 10% of the workforce,