Book & podcast collection

When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach

byAshlee Vance

Journalist Ashlee Vance follows entrepreneurs racing to make rockets smaller, cheaper, and more frequent as private companies transform access to orbit. Startups in the United States and abroad pursue satellites, launch systems, and new business models through technical failure, eccentric leadership, venture capital, and geopolitical competition. The book captures a space industry no longer dominated solely by national agencies or a few giant contractors. Vance profiles the misfits and engineers expanding what can be launched, while asking whether commercial abundance will democratize space, intensify congestion, or concentrate a new frontier in private hands.

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

Publication date

2023

Format

Print edition

Pages

—

ISBN

9780062998873