The Space Barons

Christian Davenport's 2018 account follows the billionaires spending their fortunes to revive American spaceflight, chiefly Elon Musk of SpaceX and Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin, with Richard Branson and Paul Allen alongside. Almost half a century after Neil Armstrong's moon walk, these founders of companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Virgin, Tesla and PayPal apply Silicon Valley methods to cut the cost of reaching space and to go further than NASA has. Davenport tracks the rivalry on two levels: startups against established contractors, and the personal clashes between Musk and Bezos as both aim for the moon and Mars. The narrative rests on years of reporting and on exclusive interviews with all four men.

Walter Isaacson called it an exciting narrative with colorful reporting and sharp insights, crediting Davenport's access to the key figures and his crisp storytelling.