I would suggest that space be divided into a big 3D "grid". When you move from one grid space to another, you could shift everything to the newly occupied grid is in the center of the universe. This would avoid precision problems, at lease near the camera.
I've never known a massive view distance to impact performance; only to cause z-buffer issues. Just remember to use 32 bit mode (with increased z-buffer precision) and to keep the "near" view range as far as possible to squeeze out as much precision as possible.
Another method (which I haven't tested) to overcome the view range limit would be to "lock" entities to a certain view distance, but also scaling them down appropriately. This way you could make it appear that you have massive galaxies, constellations, planets, etc. far far far away, while in reality they're only 10,000 units away, for example.
I've never known a massive view distance to impact performance; only to cause z-buffer issues. Just remember to use 32 bit mode (with increased z-buffer precision) and to keep the "near" view range as far as possible to squeeze out as much precision as possible.
Another method (which I haven't tested) to overcome the view range limit would be to "lock" entities to a certain view distance, but also scaling them down appropriately. This way you could make it appear that you have massive galaxies, constellations, planets, etc. far far far away, while in reality they're only 10,000 units away, for example.