“This is currently the only business jet with a premium in the used market that I’m aware of,” Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Abouafia told AIN. “Gulfstream has a five-year head start over Bombardier’s Global 7000, which won’t enter the market until 2017. It’s almost unheard of for anyone to have this kind of market all to themselves for this long."

Marco Caceres, senior space analyst for the Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group, said there have been no public disclosures of any anomalies in the April 18 mission. Caceres, who follows the launch industry, said that even if there was a glitch with the mission, such as falling short of the intended orbit, it was a success because the SpaceX vehicle was able to dock with the space station. “Rockets don’t usually fall short in delivering their payloads to the intended orbit, but it happens on occasion,” he said. “It’s certainly legitimate for Rogers to ask.”

Marco Caceres, senior space analyst for the Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group, said there have been no public disclosures of any anomalies in the April 18 mission. Caceres, who follows the launch industry, said that even if there was a glitch with the mission, such as falling short of the intended orbit, it was a success because the SpaceX vehicle was able to dock with the space station. “Rockets don’t usually fall short in delivering their payloads to the intended orbit, but it happens on occasion,” he said. “It’s certainly legitimate for Rogers to ask.”

It's probably not a deal-breaker for a country like Pakistan if Chinese drones lack the ability to transmit information, or resolution, the way American-made models do. "The Chinese technology will be less advanced," Phil Finnegan, the director of corporate analysis for Teal Group, says. "But it's a big advance over not having the technology at all." Pakistan may actually get a better deal partnering with China to tailor still-developing technology to its desired range for lethal strikes, and custom-fit weapons it already has for drones.

Given the stakes involved — the Pentagon expects to spend almost $70 billion on the program by 2030 — Marco Caceres, a senior analyst at the Teal Group, said he was not surprised that Musk “is playing hardball.” “There’s a lot at stake,” he said. “These contracts are very lucrative.” But, Caceres said, there could be other implications. The United States depends on Russia to take its astronauts to the space station. And if Russia decided it would not longer do that, it “could become a political nightmare,” he said. “Certainly it would be an embarrassment for the United States if there are no Americans on the space station.”