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Liftoff by Eric Berger
£10.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9780008445669
Published:
02 Feb 2023
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
288 pages
Dimensions:
198x129x20mm
Weight:
0.260kgs
Author:
'Just read it.' Elon MuskThe dramatic inside story of SpaceX ― the world's leading edge rocket company, whose charismatic and controversial founder now advises the White House
'Just read it.' Elon Musk
The dramatic inside story of SpaceX ― the world's leading edge rocket company, whose charismatic and controversial founder now advises the White House
SpaceX has enjoyed a miraculous decade. Less than 20 years after its founding, it boasts the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit, has pioneered reusable rockets, and in 2020 became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit. Half a century after the space race SpaceX is pushing forward into the cosmos, laying the foundation for our exploration of other worlds.
But before it became one of the most powerful players in the aerospace industry, SpaceX was a fledgling startup, scrambling to develop a single workable rocket before the money ran dry. The engineering challenge was immense; numerous other private companies had failed similar attempts. And even if SpaceX succeeded, they would then have to compete for government contracts with titans such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who had tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. SpaceX had fewer than 200 employees and the relative pittance of $100 million in the bank.
In Liftoff, Eric Berger takes readers inside the wild early days that made SpaceX. Focusing on the company's first four launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, he charts the bumpy journey from scrappy underdog to aerospace pioneer. drawing upon exclusive interviews with dozens of former and current engineers, designers, mechanics, and executives, including Elon Musk. The enigmatic Musk, who founded the company with the dream of one day settling Mars, is the fuel that propels the book with a daring vision for the future of space - this same bravado has now landed him a role in the second Trump administration.
About the Author: Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from new space to NASA policy. Eric has an astronomy degree from the University of Texas and a master's in journalism from the University of Missouri. He previously worked at the Houston Chronicle for 17 years, where the paper was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009 for his coverage of Hurricane Ike.
| Number of pages | 288 |
|---|
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