Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched SpaceX
- Downloads：8608
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-17 10:31:42
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Eric Berger
- ISBN：B089QRXBXB
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Charlie Schaub
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Can't say I wasn't warned by the title。 Berger focuses on the period leading to SpaceX's first successful launch， developing his story largely through profiles of engineers who led the project。 Though Berger does manage to convey how precarious SpaceX's early days were， the book left me unsatisfied。 There's not much here for anyone looking to understand the history of commercial space exploration， or its prospects going forward。 Can't say I wasn't warned by the title。 Berger focuses on the period leading to SpaceX's first successful launch， developing his story largely through profiles of engineers who led the project。 Though Berger does manage to convey how precarious SpaceX's early days were， the book left me unsatisfied。 There's not much here for anyone looking to understand the history of commercial space exploration， or its prospects going forward。 。。。more
Bob
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I really love your story， it deserves a lot of audience。 If you have some great stories like this one， you can publish it on Novel Star， just submit your story to hardy@novelstar。top or joye@novelstar。top
Joseph Wolfgram
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Every SpaceX fan should read this book！I live 5 miles from Starbase， Texas where the Starship prototype rockets are now launching （and with some frequency， exploding）。 I moved 22 hours from my prior residence just to witness this history in the making！！ What SpaceX has， and will， achieve is arguably unparalleled in modern history。 Hearing this （Elon-endorsed） “accurate” account of the early days at the rocket company is a must for anyone in order to truly understand how this great company almost Every SpaceX fan should read this book！I live 5 miles from Starbase， Texas where the Starship prototype rockets are now launching （and with some frequency， exploding）。 I moved 22 hours from my prior residence just to witness this history in the making！！ What SpaceX has， and will， achieve is arguably unparalleled in modern history。 Hearing this （Elon-endorsed） “accurate” account of the early days at the rocket company is a must for anyone in order to truly understand how this great company almost didn’t happen， and the true heroes we have to thank for its success！！ 。。。more
Petr Boška
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Another book that made me cry！ Anyway， one should admire Elon Musk for his goals。 Impossible does not mean anything to him。 Great book。
Lloyd Cruz
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Reading a good story like this one， I suggest you join NovelStar’s writing competition this April。 If you are interested kindly check this link https://www。facebook。com/104455574751。。。 for the mechanics of the writing contest this April and also， I am sharing your book in Facebook to help reach readers。 Thank you Reading a good story like this one， I suggest you join NovelStar’s writing competition this April。 If you are interested kindly check this link https://www。facebook。com/104455574751。。。 for the mechanics of the writing contest this April and also， I am sharing your book in Facebook to help reach readers。 Thank you 。。。more
Shawn
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Great， well written book about the beginning years of SpaceX。 Great access and story about the people that were there in the beginning。 Amazing how really close SpaceX came to not being a company。
Tyler
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Eric Berger， a veteran writer for a science and technology publication called Ars Technica， has penned a remarkable account of what has become the most successful private sector spaceflight organization: SpaceX。 For this book， he managed to interview Elon Musk and several of the key people from the earliest years of SpaceX， such as Chris Thompson， Tom Mueller， Hans Koenigsmann， and Gwynne Shotwell。 All of these people have shared their memories about the days when the success of SpaceX appeared Eric Berger， a veteran writer for a science and technology publication called Ars Technica， has penned a remarkable account of what has become the most successful private sector spaceflight organization: SpaceX。 For this book， he managed to interview Elon Musk and several of the key people from the earliest years of SpaceX， such as Chris Thompson， Tom Mueller， Hans Koenigsmann， and Gwynne Shotwell。 All of these people have shared their memories about the days when the success of SpaceX appeared unlikely。 When Musk founded the organization in 2002， several companies had already failed in their own attempts to lower the cost of launching into Earth orbit。 To many NASA officials and veterans of older aerospace companies， Musk just looked like another in the long line of people who had bold dreams but could not match their dreams with reality。 The SpaceX team went through their own difficulties， as their first three attempts to launch the Falcon 1 rocket from a small island in the Pacific Ocean fell short of reaching orbit。 Yet in September 2008， knowing that the reputation of the company was on the line， the Falcon 1 finally reached orbit。 Berger makes this the climax of his book before wrapping up with the first launch of the Falcon 9 and the subsequent successes that have now culminated in astronauts launching aboard SpaceX vehicles。 Berger recounts not only all of these events， but also the life journeys， thoughts， and emotions of the participants as well as the organizational culture that Musk has fostered over the years。 Musk has pushed his employees hard， as evidenced especially in the epilogue where Berger explains the way many of them have felt burned out and left with precious little time for their families。 Yet the end result has been a company that has already shaken up the launch industry with its exceptionally low prices and now stands poised to send humans beyond low Earth orbit， all the way to the Moon and even Mars。 If I ever teach a class on the history of spaceflight， this should be a good resource and a good reminder that even an incredibly successful company went through three agonizing failures on its way to success。 。。。more
Marios
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When I was a young boy I remember daydreaming about the first tycoons like Vanderbilt or Carnegie， or inventors whose innovations changed the world drastically。 I didn’t want to be one， I wanted to live in that era and observe how those new technologies and infrastructure changed peoples lives。 Like the first communication technologies of telegram or telephone。 Or the advent of the first railroads， enabling people to explore new lands， enabling even poor people with a little money and a lot of c When I was a young boy I remember daydreaming about the first tycoons like Vanderbilt or Carnegie， or inventors whose innovations changed the world drastically。 I didn’t want to be one， I wanted to live in that era and observe how those new technologies and infrastructure changed peoples lives。 Like the first communication technologies of telegram or telephone。 Or the advent of the first railroads， enabling people to explore new lands， enabling even poor people with a little money and a lot of courage to pick up and relocate instead of having to live their whole lives in a small village where they and their parents and all generations before them happened to be born， live and die。 And here we are with SpaceX， developing an early infrastructure， laying down invisible rails from our home planet to other planets and beyond。 It was just unbelievable to see what those first engineers went through， like hunger strikes in a small island in the pacific or literally risking their lives crawling inside a collapsing rocket to relieve catastrophic pressure， just to make a machine work。 Humanity。 People toil and sometimes risk their lives to solve problems and advance the human race。 Entrepreneurship。 Enabling all this。 And rocketry。 When a tiny unforeseen thing can go wrong and put an end to decades of your work， making years away from family and friends， worthless。 Or conversely when a successful launch can send an exhilarated team skinny-dipping in a lagoon。 This book is a great example of how a company can go from a tiny startup to an undisputed leader within a few years， flying past government bureaucracies， breaking through powerful established interests， innovating at breakneck （almost reckless） speed， with extremely talented people handpicked and supervised by a demanding and farsighted leader。 I heard it in audible and I just loved it。 。。。more
Ryan
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This book does a great job of documenting early SpaceX， especially the first 4 launch attempts of Falcon 1 （of which only the fourth reached orbit）。 The author spoke to many current and former employees and was given pretty free rein to tell the whole story。 Elon's own biography by Vance also focused on the terrible time when the world financial markets had collapsed， Elon was getting divorced， Tesla and SpaceX both desperately needed funding， and the third Falcon 1 launch failed （for a very min This book does a great job of documenting early SpaceX， especially the first 4 launch attempts of Falcon 1 （of which only the fourth reached orbit）。 The author spoke to many current and former employees and was given pretty free rein to tell the whole story。 Elon's own biography by Vance also focused on the terrible time when the world financial markets had collapsed， Elon was getting divorced， Tesla and SpaceX both desperately needed funding， and the third Falcon 1 launch failed （for a very minor reason）， but this book included a lot more information about the actual engineering and implementation challenges the team was facing。There's some additional information about Falcon 9， and some passing references to Starlink， the Mars vehicle， etc。， but overall it's much more focused on the first ~6-8 years of SpaceX。 。。。more
Tucker
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Great review of what the early days of SpaceX were like。 Brought back some memories of the ups and downs of successes and failures。 This is conveyed greatly by Eric Berger。 Includes just enough personal stories and recollections as well as scientific explanations of what happened。 I had this on my to-read list and once Elon Musk tweeted out that it was accurate is what pushed me over the edge to reading it - and I'm so glad I did。 Great review of what the early days of SpaceX were like。 Brought back some memories of the ups and downs of successes and failures。 This is conveyed greatly by Eric Berger。 Includes just enough personal stories and recollections as well as scientific explanations of what happened。 I had this on my to-read list and once Elon Musk tweeted out that it was accurate is what pushed me over the edge to reading it - and I'm so glad I did。 。。。more
Charlie
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Great book about the early days of SpaceX。 The history behind the Falcon 1 rocket launches is absolutely wild， and it’s inspiring to see what can be accomplished with hard work， risk tolerance， and lots of iteration。 The author does a good job outlining the technical concepts behind the rocket design and the several challenges that engineers faced along the way。 I also thought the author did a good job making it not all about Elon Musk - there were plenty of other incredible people involved in m Great book about the early days of SpaceX。 The history behind the Falcon 1 rocket launches is absolutely wild， and it’s inspiring to see what can be accomplished with hard work， risk tolerance， and lots of iteration。 The author does a good job outlining the technical concepts behind the rocket design and the several challenges that engineers faced along the way。 I also thought the author did a good job making it not all about Elon Musk - there were plenty of other incredible people involved in making this happen。The book skimmed most of the history after Falcon 1， which I guess makes sense - Falcon 1 was the first major innovation， and the rest has been a lot of industrialization。 But I think that would be an interesting read as well！ How did the company really scale from a scrappy start-up to the dominant force it is today？ 。。。more
Charles
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Great read - SpaceX origin story This really was enjoyable。 I am a huge space fan。 The story of SpaceX，and the people that helped make it successful， is one that needed to be told。 It is a great behind the scenes look at the hard work it took to disrupt the launch industry。 Highly recommend。
Steve
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Account of the building of SpaceX's Falcon 1， the hiring of the main people working on it， and its first flights until they got it right。 An entertaining book， that well illustrates the hard work and long hours that everyone put into it。 It's a good portrait of Elon Musk， too， showing how he took a real hands-on （sometimes literally） approach to the problem solving， and at the end of the book the author talks about the personal costs these people paid for their years of hard work （and also made Account of the building of SpaceX's Falcon 1， the hiring of the main people working on it， and its first flights until they got it right。 An entertaining book， that well illustrates the hard work and long hours that everyone put into it。 It's a good portrait of Elon Musk， too， showing how he took a real hands-on （sometimes literally） approach to the problem solving， and at the end of the book the author talks about the personal costs these people paid for their years of hard work （and also made money）。 I would have liked some more technical details about the problems they faced， and also a bit more about how this fit into the history of rocketry。 Still， it's an engaging story， told well。 。。。more
Ronak Sethiya
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SpaceX is a fascinating organisation and not the least because of its incredible rise to technological domination of the space industry。The book details the journey of SpaceX from a single man operation of Elon Musk towards a successful first launch of the vehicle into the Geo-stationary orbit。Apart from being a riveting tale of man’s ambition and Musk’s daredevilry it also highlights the power of culture。I am amazed at how the earlier employees were persuaded by Musk to join the team。 And once SpaceX is a fascinating organisation and not the least because of its incredible rise to technological domination of the space industry。The book details the journey of SpaceX from a single man operation of Elon Musk towards a successful first launch of the vehicle into the Geo-stationary orbit。Apart from being a riveting tale of man’s ambition and Musk’s daredevilry it also highlights the power of culture。I am amazed at how the earlier employees were persuaded by Musk to join the team。 And once they joined they gave everything to the company and its mission to reach space。 For a manager or future leader， it is a good read to understand how you can motivate your troops to march into the unknown。 I also came away impressed at the maturity of the US space industry。 It is not every day that you can find people who have designed rocket engines and are bored at their current jobs。 The supplier base， the support of the US military to a novice like Musk to help launch the first rockets and the NASA funding at crucial moments。On a side note， if you are a young technocrat entering the workforce， it was interesting to see how the first employees got the job because of their network。 。。。more
Rhonda
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I’m only 3 chapters in but this is non fiction that reads like an intense suspense movie。 I can already tell I want to see it as a motion picture。 Sure I’m biased， I drive my favorite car ever Tesla Model 3 created by Musk’s other cool company- my own private rocket ship。 I make my career in aerospace & defense but I love the Wild West approach Elon Musk acquired the best engineers， the land to test & launch rockets & basically upended a huge Gov’t agency。 He pushed his team to beat NASA but got I’m only 3 chapters in but this is non fiction that reads like an intense suspense movie。 I can already tell I want to see it as a motion picture。 Sure I’m biased， I drive my favorite car ever Tesla Model 3 created by Musk’s other cool company- my own private rocket ship。 I make my career in aerospace & defense but I love the Wild West approach Elon Musk acquired the best engineers， the land to test & launch rockets & basically upended a huge Gov’t agency。 He pushed his team to beat NASA but got our Astronauts to the ISS， International Space Station in 2020 so NASA did not have to pay $90M to Russia。 A small Colorado customer I work with helped with the rocket pump on Falcon 9， I never would have known if I did not read this。 Loving this read！ 。。。more
Kim A
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God bok om spacex's begynnelse。 God bok om spacex's begynnelse。 。。。more
Viktor Madarász
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A nice， very readable and detailed book about the early days of SpaceX。 Recommended for all people interested in space tech。
Elan
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A memoir that reads like an action film！ Explains how Elon tackled the problem “make space flight reusable and affordable” and used that to drive development of an industry disruptor。
James Giammona
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Great first-hand accounts of the early days of SpaceX and the work that went into getting the Falcon 1 into orbit。 Loved reading it！Some well-meaning constructive criticism。 The reason I didn't give this five stars is that it felt rushed and narrow。 I feel like there's this whole larger context of what the launch market looked like， why Elon and other engineers thought this was possible financially and engineering-wise with their small team， and what some of the hardest or most elegant design ch Great first-hand accounts of the early days of SpaceX and the work that went into getting the Falcon 1 into orbit。 Loved reading it！Some well-meaning constructive criticism。 The reason I didn't give this five stars is that it felt rushed and narrow。 I feel like there's this whole larger context of what the launch market looked like， why Elon and other engineers thought this was possible financially and engineering-wise with their small team， and what some of the hardest or most elegant design challenges and decisions were。How did these team members contextualize， learn， test， and make these decisions？The series of events were certainly portrayed in detail but I felt that the first-person decision making and rationale was under-described。 How does one learn to become a great engineer especially in their mid-twenties？ Is it just a lot of hands-on experience under more senior mentors？ How did Elon learn？ How has SpaceX continued to innovate as it has pushed into uncharted engineering territory？ I feel like these answers deserve much more elaboration and investigation than I've seen before。 That's what I really want to know。 。。。more
Tim
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I’m no huge Elon musk fan， but， this was interesting。。。
enrique
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historia bien completa y detallada de los primeros 4 lanzamientos del Falcon 1！ Es bien completo y cuenta la perspectiva de varios de los primeros empleados， de todos los problemas que tuvieron y la cultura del trabajo en SpaceX！ Super fácil y rápido de leer y me rei varias veces
Brian Ulczynski
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I've watched SpaceX from a distance for sometime now， and thought I knew a fair amount of the company。 With that said， you always learn so much more when you hear from the people that were there during the time the book covers。 Eric Berger did a great job taking the stories from the numerous interviews he scheduled to crafting it into a story that covered the first several years of SpaceX's existence。 When reading these sorts of books， you always wonder what the people who are highlighted in the I've watched SpaceX from a distance for sometime now， and thought I knew a fair amount of the company。 With that said， you always learn so much more when you hear from the people that were there during the time the book covers。 Eric Berger did a great job taking the stories from the numerous interviews he scheduled to crafting it into a story that covered the first several years of SpaceX's existence。 When reading these sorts of books， you always wonder what the people who are highlighted in the book think of the final product。 Recently Elon Musk tweeted something to the effect that the book was spot on and all true， but that the epilogue was a little off。 The epilogue was sort of a "where are they now" type of ending。 Not sure what Elon felt was incorrect， but overall he seemed to look at the book very favorable （despite there being no attempts to hide the fact that he demands a lot from his employees and long， long hours are the norm and to be expected）。 。。。more
Justin
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A story that despite the at times problematic figure at its head deserves to be told and to be known by more people。
Andrey Frolov
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The book covers the first few years of SpaceX。 To be more precise， it looks mostly at people and the sacrifices they made。 How they worked 18 hours days。 How they sacrificed their families。 How they sleep on the concrete block at the airport entrance。 How they had had to dive inside the rocket to open the valve manually in the descending plane to prevent its collapse from the pressure difference。 Book has several cool war stores and photos we haven't seen before。 I didn't know that they got kick The book covers the first few years of SpaceX。 To be more precise， it looks mostly at people and the sacrifices they made。 How they worked 18 hours days。 How they sacrificed their families。 How they sleep on the concrete block at the airport entrance。 How they had had to dive inside the rocket to open the valve manually in the descending plane to prevent its collapse from the pressure difference。 Book has several cool war stores and photos we haven't seen before。 I didn't know that they got kicked out of Vandenberg Air Force base to keep some secret payload safe。 Didn't know about the huge issue with ablative vs regenerative cooling and Musk vs Muller conflict。But。。 I didn't enjoy the book that much。 I wanted to know more about the company， technical challenges， hard decisions。 How the hell did they convince NASA to invest 1。2B in SpaceX？ Where did the money come from for the 4th Falcon 1 launch？ What the hell happen in Russia？ What about The Mars Society？ How did Musk end up building his own rocket？ Was it really Zubrin who convinced him？ So many questions not answered。。。In some way， this book is similar to "The Right Stuff"。 Good story， but not exactly the story I was looking for。 。。。more
Marek Vesely
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Definitely THE BEST book written about SpaceX and Elon Musk's journey and one of the greatest books written about rocketry。 Anyone who wants to get a glimpse to the very early days of space revolution - this is a must read！ Definitely THE BEST book written about SpaceX and Elon Musk's journey and one of the greatest books written about rocketry。 Anyone who wants to get a glimpse to the very early days of space revolution - this is a must read！ 。。。more
Abhijeet Rathore
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Being a space and a spaceX fan， you might enjoy it。 But if you have read the Musk biography already， this books add little to that。
Matt Lanza
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As a friend and colleague of Eric’s， I hoped I could write an objective review of this book。 Thankfully， I can。 This is a fantastic read， and it’s honestly a book I struggled to put down at times。 I knew nothing about SpaceX beyond they launch rockets， Elon Musk， and they do some cool stuff。 This was highly informative and illuminating， and it gave my great respect for their accomplishments。 Eric’s writing style is breezy and engaging but thorough。 If you want you could finish this in a day or t As a friend and colleague of Eric’s， I hoped I could write an objective review of this book。 Thankfully， I can。 This is a fantastic read， and it’s honestly a book I struggled to put down at times。 I knew nothing about SpaceX beyond they launch rockets， Elon Musk， and they do some cool stuff。 This was highly informative and illuminating， and it gave my great respect for their accomplishments。 Eric’s writing style is breezy and engaging but thorough。 If you want you could finish this in a day or two easily。 He balances a good explanation of some of the technicalities of rocket science with the events they encountered along the way。 It’s just really well done。 。。。more
Pablo Lobo
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As an engineer currently working at a startup that is trying to build a small launch vehicle， this book has definitely served in further fueling my passion and love for aerospace ventures in their early stages。What the author mentions at the end of the book regarding its protagonists being highly interested in sharing their part of this amazing story comes as no surprise。 It really was an epic tale， filled with risk and hard work。 It having evolved into what SpaceX is and represents today is onl As an engineer currently working at a startup that is trying to build a small launch vehicle， this book has definitely served in further fueling my passion and love for aerospace ventures in their early stages。What the author mentions at the end of the book regarding its protagonists being highly interested in sharing their part of this amazing story comes as no surprise。 It really was an epic tale， filled with risk and hard work。 It having evolved into what SpaceX is and represents today is only the icing on the cake; the story would have been worth telling regardless of its end results。 。。。more
ko chien wu
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As obvious as the title， the book focus on how spacex， an unknown startup founded by。 Com billionaire， turn into the most proceeding private space company with state-of-the-art tech。 I enjoyed the way Eric Berger composed this book as it's very objective and delightful。 While people see SpaceX as an industry giant by natural， we discovered the reality we， including Elon， all have to face when building startup。 Inspiring and motivating！ As obvious as the title， the book focus on how spacex， an unknown startup founded by。 Com billionaire， turn into the most proceeding private space company with state-of-the-art tech。 I enjoyed the way Eric Berger composed this book as it's very objective and delightful。 While people see SpaceX as an industry giant by natural， we discovered the reality we， including Elon， all have to face when building startup。 Inspiring and motivating！ 。。。more
Dennis Keane
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