Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight

Life in space? This timely book shows the current state and future of the space travel industry—and how this is becoming our future—at a crucial juncture in the industry’s history.

The 21st-century space industry is changing drastically, the most dramatic shift happening in the United States, where private sector companies—like Elon Musk’s SpaceX—are building a dizzying array of new spacecraft and rockets, not just for government use, but for any paying customer. At the heart of this space revolution are spaceports, the center and literal launching pad of spaceflight. The up-front costs of spaceports are measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the competition is extreme, and failure is unforgivable—and often fatal.

Aerospace journalist Joe Pappalardo has witnessed rocket launches around the world, visiting every working spaceport in the United States. In his comprehensive book Spaceport Earth, Pappalardo describes the rise of a plethora of private companies in the United States, and how they are reshaping the way the world is using space for industry and science—and creating spaceports. Spaceport Earth will be a travelogue through modern space history as it is being made. From the familiar Cape Canaveral to the jungle launch site in French Guiana, South America, spaceflight fanatics will appreciate the close perspective to launch sites, while those new to the industry will be enamored by stories the industrial titans, engineers, billionaires, schemers and politicians who are redefining what it means for humans to be a spacefaring species.