Archive for the ‘Space Book Reviews’ Category
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February 15th, 2026
The number of objects in orbit has surged over the past two decades, driven largely by the expansion of commercial space activity.
This critical orbital infrastructure is under threat. Congestion from space debris is rising, creating a strategic vulnerability for the entire planet.
Without mitigation, the probability of a serious collision occurring by 2032 is potentially 29% in certain altitude zones.
Those are a few observations by a new report — Clear Orbit, Secure Future: A Call to Action on Space Debris — from the World Economic Forum and the Center for Space Futures. They have jointly led several community consultations to assess the escalating risk and economic cost of space debris, particularly the growing collision risk it presents over the coming decade.
Image credit: World Economic Forum/Center for Space Futures
Economic forecast
The report is a product of a close collaboration with the Saudi Space Agency and LeoLabs to develop an orbital population model, and with Novaspace to produce an economic forecast that quantifies the potential economic impact of space debris on the global space economy.
The new forecast projects that space debris could impose a direct cost of up to $42.3 billion over the next decade, a “hidden tax” on the space economy.
To access the full report, go to:
https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Clear_Orbit_Secure_Future_2026.pdf
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Born to Explore – John Casani’s Grand Tour of the Solar System by Jay Gallentine; Nebraska Press; 400 pages; Hardcover, $39.95.
This fascinating read centers on one of the most valued leaders that worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and managed a slew of NASA projects, including Voyager, Galileo, and the Cassini mission to Saturn.
For those that had their own close-encounter with John Casani – as this reporter did several times – he was a tour-de-force of facts, enthusiasm, and stick-to-it management guidance.
Jay Gallentine, an award-winning space historian from Minnesota, has written an absorbing look at this legendary leader that rose through JPL’s ranks to a senior executive.
As the author skillfully notes, Casani battled politics, funding issues, the laws of physics, and also on occasion his JPL compatriots. “We didn’t know how to do what were supposed to do. We were too dumb to know that what they were askin’ us to do would really be hard,” said Casani on his early days at JPL as cited by Gallentine.
Casani harbored a persistent drive to undertake some of the most momentous – and nine-figure space missions — ever embarked upon.
Sadly, John Casani passed away on June 19, 2025 at 92 years of age – and did not see the publication of this masterfully written volume.
So often, we space cadets herald the hardware of space victories in far off corners of our solar system. These are legacy successes made possible by individuals that accept and confront challenges like no other.
But thanks to Gallentine’s account through the book’s 27 chapters, the reader can appreciate the expertise Casani brought to America’s adventurous, ambitious and audacious space exploration program. It is an outstanding story told and a significant entry in the Nebraska Press Outward Odyssey series.
For more information, go to:
https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496206657/born-to-explore/
John Casani and Jay Gallentine.
Image credit: Jay Gallentine
“This year marks half a century since Spinoff began capturing the commercial impact of NASA. As we explore the universe for the benefit of all, NASA remains committed to ensuring technologies developed for space exploration and discovery have direct benefits here on Earth,” explains Daniel Lockney, Program Executive for NASA’s Technology Transfer Program at NASA Headquarters.
“As we set our sights on the Moon and pave the way to Mars, NASA’s return to the lunar surface is fueling America’s commercial marketplace,” Lockney states.
To deep dive into this year’s informative document, go to:
https://ntts-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/t2p/prod/spinoff/NASA-Spinoff-2026.pdf
The Pale Blue Data Point – An Earth-Based Perspective on the Search for Alien Life by Jon Willis; The University of Chicago Press; 256 pages; Hardcover, $26.00.
As a professor of astronomy at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Willis has written a highly-engaging, captivating and timely book.
In the preface of this volume, the author calls attention to the dramatic landscapes right here on home planet – the Earth. “Our pale blue data point offers many opportunities to learn about the life that exists upon it,” adding that our world offers clues as to the prospects for life elsewhere.
Indeed, the past 30 years has served up a “golden generation” of exoplanet discovery, Willis explains. Moreover, this book offers the reader a look not only of astrobiology as a science, but what astrobiology looks like in the field – rich in scientific unknowns and eye-opening findings.
Willis underscores the work of exploration, from use of the submersible-equipped E/V Nautilus to contemplate the seas of Saturn’s and Jupiter’s moons to the mountaintop observatories in Chile that scout out extrasolar planets, as well as listening in on dolphins in the Bahamas to envisage the minds of alien intelligences.
The Pale Blue Data Point offers six enlightening and discerning chapters, such as “Twenty Thousand Pings Under the Sea: In Search of Alien Oceans,” “Swimming with Stromatolites: The Hunt for Martian Fossils,” and “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish: A Dolphin-Led Guide to Alien Communication.”
Given the rise of astrobiology and the search for life elsewhere in the cosmos, Willis asks “can a collection of tangential ideas, drawn from all points of the scientific compass, be made to fit into the circle of a new discipline?”
This book offers the reader the answer to that question, expertly written to spotlight astrobiology in action.
Lastly, the volume concludes with a “Further Travels” section, a guide for the reader’s own astrobiological opportunities, “whether metaphorically or indeed literally,” Willis suggests.
For more information about this perceptive, engaging and extremely readable book, go to:
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo253701931.html#anchor-gallery
This report from the Atlantic Council illuminates important defense and force planning considerations. Its three scenarios span a catastrophic nuclear detonation (NUDET) in low Earth orbit to debris-generating anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons to less aggressive action against commercial satellites.
The report makes the case for the development of policies, practical strategies, and more effective acquisition programs to better address a range of potential futures, considering possible space-related actions by Russia’s political leadership.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force/Airman 1st Class Karina Lopez
Countering Russian Escalation in Space is written by John J. Klein, a nonresident senior fellow in the Forward Defense program of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
Clementine Starling-Daniels is a vice president at Beacon Global Strategies, the former director of the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense program, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
To access the full report, go to:
Nuclear Weapons in Space – Orbital Bombardment and Strategic Stability has been issued by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI).
Written by Aaron Stein, President of the FPRI, this report points out that space technology is inherently dual-use.
“The platforms used to launch satellites can also be used to deliver atomic weapons. The same is true of defenses: The things built to shoot down incoming missiles can also be repurposed to shoot down satellites. The tensions between offense and defense have dominated how the United States has sought to manage access to space,” the report states.
Checklist suggestions
Stein proposes several checklist items:
Concept art for Project Excalibur (USAF)
- The U.S. should consider how to repurpose current missile defense interceptors to hold any Russian co-orbital satellites at risk
- Make explicit that any nuclear attack on U.S. origin satellites would invite retaliation
- Continue to invest in sensors to detect missile launch from adversary nations (including those fired south to travel over the South Pole)
- Be the insurer of last resort for private satellites that could be destroyed by a hostile act
To access the full report, go to:
https://www.fpri.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stein_ona_91625.pdf
Wait-a-Minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
The profound prospect of finding out that “we’re not alone” may also have weighty wait-a-minute consequences.
A recent poll indicates that half of Americans believe aliens have visited Earth.
The poll was produced by YouGov US, an international online research data and analytics technology group.
This polling finds that most Americans believe aliens exist, and many think that aliens have paid a visit to Earth in recent years.
Full and deliberate disclosure?
Arguably, one poll result rubs up against “full disclosure” advocates, those seeking an immediate revelation about alien visitation in the past, up to today.
“Americans are more likely to believe alien encounters would have a negative effect on human civilization than to think it would have a positive effect,” YouGov explains.
Also, many believe that aliens would bring “new diseases and unintentional harm or outright hostility to people if we were to encounter them.”
Credit: Orbitz
Indeed, the poll explains that twice as many Americans say an alien visit would have a negative effect on human civilization than a positive one.
Other takeaway messages
According to YouGov data journalist, Jamie Ballard, other takeaway messages from the polling are:
- Americans are split on whether aliens have visited Earth in recent years.
- 16% of Americans believe we will make contact with alien life by 2035.
- Majorities of Americans think if we encountered aliens, it’s likely they would be more technologically advanced than humans and want to stay hidden.
The poll results stem from an online survey conducted on November 4 – 9, 2025 among 1,114 U.S. adult citizens.
To dive into the array of poll findings, go to:
https://today.yougov.com/health/articles/53486-half-of-americans-believe-aliens-have-visited-earth
Wait-a-Minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
Securing Space Superiority: U.S. Deterrence Options in a Two-Rival Threat Environment has been released by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).
Military competition in and for space is rising. Both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation have put significant effort into developing, demonstrating, and fielding counterspace capabilities.
The capabilities—including direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons, co-orbital weapons, directed energy, and electronic warfare and cyber capabilities—could allow the Chinese and Russian militaries to threaten U.S. space systems.
This report contends that the United States cannot treat the space threats from China and Russia in isolation and must instead be prepared to deter or counter both simultaneously.
To access this report, go to:
https://www.csbaonline.org/uploads/documents/CSBA8410_Securing_Space_Superiority_Report_WEB.pdf
International space law from decades ago was written for a world that no longer exists, explains space lawyer Michelle Slawecki Hanlon.
“The treaties that guide us, visionary as they are, were crafted when only two nations had the power to reach orbit. They focused on peace and principles, not procedures or property rights,” Hanlon explains in a recent Facebook posting.
Cold War time capsule
Hanlon notes that today there are commercial launch providers, multinational resource ventures, private stations, lunar habitats and artificial intelligence systems operating with increasing autonomy. “Yet the legal framework that governs them still reads like a Cold War time capsule,” she responded.
Lawyers are needed, but not as regulators or obstacles.
Signing of Outer Space Treaty.
Image credit: United Nations
“Lawyers are the navigators of this new era. We shouldn’t tell industry what it can’t do; we should help it understand how to do what it wants to do — responsibly, sustainably and lawfully,” Hanlon suggests.
Stalling at the edge of legality
For one, “good space lawyering” isn’t about drawing borders, Hanlon adds. “It’s about drawing pathways and aligning innovation with international obligations so that progress doesn’t stall at the edge of legality.”
Space cowboys? International lawyers are trying to agree on what legislation will be needed to control the exploration of mineral resources in space to avoid a new ‘Wild West’.
Credit: James Vaughan
Space doesn’t need more rules; it needs people who know how to use them, Hanlon says, as the next leap in human civilization “won’t be powered by rockets alone. It will be powered by law that keeps pace with technology and imagination alike.”
For more on the advancement of space law, go to the Space Law Quick Reference Booklet – Digital Edition at:
https://secure.touchnet.net/C21670_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=1582
The Launch of Rocket Lab by Peter Griffin, with introduction by Sir Peter Beck, Published by Blackwell & Ruth and distributed by Abrams Books; 312 pages; Hardcover, $60.00.
This stunning, large format book, tells the engaging story of Rocket Lab and how Peter Beck founded this powerhouse of an enterprise. As a self-taught rocket engineer without a college degree, Beck’s garage-based start-up in New Zealand has led to a 2,500 people strong, $22-plus billion publicly traded company now headquartered in Long Beach, California.
This compelling and well-written tale is authored by Peter Griffin, a New Zealand-based science and technology journalist who has been covering emerging technology, start-ups, and the tech sector for decades.
Illustrated by 175 color and black & white images, what’s portrayed in the volume is a first in-depth view of Rocket Lab’s past and where Beck and colleagues foresee as its future. Thanks to firsthand accounts from the engineers and team, The Launch of Rocket Lab delivers an enthralling behind-the-scenes look at this highly successful space company.
Imagineer, Peter Beck
“Somewhere between unlikely and impossible is where magic happens,” explains Beck. “This book captures the essence of Rocket Lab’s spirit. It’s not just a chronicle of our achievements but a testament to what can be accomplished when you dare to try and refuse to give up,” he explains in the volume’s introduction.
“Everyone thinks you are crazy until you do it; then you are just called a visionary,” Beck observes.
The book is divided into three parts: “Looking Upwards”; “The Age of Electron”; and “The Next Frontiers.” The contents are remarkably fresh, including Rocket Lab’s work on the CAPSTONE lunar mission, the soon-to-launch ESCAPADE Mars probes, the group’s highly anticipated Venus Life Finder mission, and nifty details about building the up-and-coming Neutron booster.
Venus Life Finder.
Image credit: Rocket Lab
Captured as well is the company’s funding challenges, near-misses, and failed missions – a non-hiccup-free journey to developing Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher.
Hat’s off to those laying out The Launch of Rocket Lab that tastefully makes use of breathtaking imagery that gives the book a feeling of time, space, and the thirst to thrust into space and set your sights on the unknown.
“Outsized ambition is really the story of Rocket Lab,” writes Griffin, the book’s author. “Rocket Lab is laying the groundwork for a future where it looks likely to play a pivotal role in the shape of the commercial space sector,” he adds.
Indeed, this story of innovation and stick-to-it passion should also become a lessons-learned short-course for fledgling space start-ups.
For more information on this book, go to:
https://www.blackwellandruth.com/books
Note: Special thanks to Kate Greenberg of Arply for the book and press materials.
