By 
April 2nd, 2018
Credit: PublicAffairs
The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos by Christian Davenport, PublicAffairs, New York 2018; 320 pages, hardcover, $28.00.
Christian Davenport is a staff writer at the Washington Post covering the space and defense industries for the financial desk, joining the Post in 2000.
You’ll find a very enjoyable, behind-the-scenes look at the well-heeled, big-buck billionaire entrepreneurs who are reshaping the commercial space program. Space Barons, of the likes of Elon Musk of SpaceX and Amazon.com leader, Jeff Bezos, along with Richard Branson and Paul Allen-are taking innovative tactics to reshape and rekindle private space activities.
Davenport has used his sharp-eyed, journalistic talents to tell a compelling story about a “new Space Age” – one that is being propelled by the dollars of the world’s richest people to curb governmental monopoly of utilizing space. The volume also portrays the rivalry between space startups, as well as how they are upsetting the established aerospace community: old space, versus new space.
As the author notes, “Musk, the brash hare, was blazing a trail for others to follow, while Bezos, the secretive and slow tortoise, who was content to take it step by step in a race that was only just beginning.”
The book is divided into three parts, including a tell-all timeline that runs from September 2000 to September 2017 showing the growth of entrepreneurial space progress – and failure. In the book’s notes section you’ll also find useful resources for each part of the book.
This is a must-read volume that is not only well-written but offers a treasure-trove of facts that underscore the trans-formative times we live in…as private sector space reshapes low Earth orbit, a return to the Moon, planting humans on Mars and setting sail for destinations beyond.
For more information about this book, go to:
https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/christian-davenport/the-space-barons/9781610398299/
Special bonus!
Wednesday, April 4, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Eastern Time
The Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) invites you to a discussion with Christian Davenport speaking on The Quest to Colonize the Cosmos: How Billionaires are Changing the Space Industry.
The event is being held at CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, D.C. and will be available via webcast live from this page:
https://www.csis.org/events/quest-colonize-cosmos-how-billionaires-are-changing-space-industry
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