Hmm , considering theres some other piece of news out there stating "Trump administration considering eliminating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)" [0] , makes this look like a turf war between the two . Gov entity vs billionaire cotractor looking to clean up on the contracts, with the previously proposed budget already gutting NASA capabilities making it more or less a foregone conclusion that US space will be dominated by private interests.
With the expected outlook of funneling tax dollars to private corps , this looks like each entity staking out their claims and playing hardball for their future roles.