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Liftoff
- Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's Summary
The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX - and Elon Musk - from a shaky start-up into the world's leading-edge rocket company.
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 start-up, 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 listeners 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 his daring vision for the future of space.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic Reviews
"Liftoff reads like something out of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, but this isn't a novel by Robert Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke. This is the true, astounding story of the men and women who spun those sci-fi dreams into reality. This is as important a book on space as has ever been written and it's a riveting page-turner, too!" (Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys)
"This might be the best space book I've ever read. Liftoff will prove to be a defining story not only for the commercial space industry, but for the space age writ large, and there's no one better than Eric Berger to tell it." (Kellie Gerardi, author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science)
“This is a book that will hold your rapt attention from start to finish." (Charles Bolden, former NASA administrator and four-time astronaut)
"Just read it." (Elon Musk)
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- daniel
- 22-03-2021
Worth reading or listening. An amazing story
Love it and very well presented story with amazing details never seen before. The author did an awesome work here and thanks to SpaceX for sharing this with the world
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- Phill
- 08-03-2021
An Instant Classic for Space Fandom!
Impossible to put down ( or unplug 😉)!
well worth the price and Download.
Buy it now!
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- Natan Kowalski
- 25-05-2021
great insight into the early days of SpaceX
narration was great, story is fascinating. highly recommended. some gems nestled in this book.
like Musk or not, it's worth finding out how he works, and this gives you a fairly good view.
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- Anonymous Allen
- 21-08-2023
Fun and detailed history
If you’re a fan of SpaceX, you’ll love this. Really in-depth study of the company, lots of detail, you won’t find a lot of this information elsewhere.
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- Anonymous User
- 16-04-2021
Hats off
I have even more respect for the SpaceX team now. Would love to see a movie of this!
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- Anonymous User
- 16-08-2021
Amazing story
A must for any space and technology enthusiast. I only knew the rough outline of the story. This really goes into detail! love it!
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- S. Robb
- 26-06-2022
fantastic and fascinating
A brilliant book, reads like an adventure story novel and business book at the same time. I couldn't stop listening.
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- Debra Harms
- 31-03-2021
could not stop listening
amazing, l could not stop listening...well written and left me in awe of the xx people who started this history in the making. l am a "Tank watcher", a "Nerdle" and watched the first man on the moon when l was 3. Thankyou for this amazing insight.
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- Vicki
- 05-11-2021
Brilliant book
A Brilliant insightful heartfelt story full of true grit. A joy to listen to. Great narration.
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- Michael
- 10-09-2021
Exotic culture
Utopian dreamers ,visionary to wright our future history and lead the way back to the future we should have had.
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