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

by Ashlee Vance (Author)

Best Biography

In 2008, Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first private company to build a low-cost rocket that could reach orbit. Suddenly Silicon Valley, not NASA, was the epicentre of the new Space Age.

Ashlee Vance follows four pioneering companies – Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs and Rocket Lab – as they race to control access to outer space. While the space tourism ambitions of billionaires such as Bezos and Branson make headlines, these under-the-radar companies are striving to monetise Earth’s lower orbit; to connect, analyse and monitor everything on Earth.

With unprecedented access to private company headquarters, labs and top-secret launch locations – from the US to New Zealand, Ukraine to India – Vance presents a gripping account of private jets, communes, gun-toting bodyguards, drugs, espionage investigations and multimillionaires guzzling booze as their fortunes disappear.

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Publisher Brains & Noble

Publication date June 13, 2026

Condition new

Author Ashlee Vance

Interior Black_white

Item model number BN-80129

Category Biography