The Space Business
From Hotels in Orbit to Mining the Moon - How Private Enterprise is Transforming Space
Published on 7. October 2021
176 pages
978-1-78578-746-1 (ISBN)
Description
Dreams, schemes and opportunity as space opens for tourism and commerce.
Twentieth century space exploration may have belonged to state-funded giants such as NASA, but there is a parallel history which has set the template for the future.
Even before Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, private companies were exploiting space via communication satellites - a sector that is seeing exponential growth in the internet age. In human spaceflight, too, commercialisation is making itself felt. Billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have long trumpeted plans to make space travel a possibility for ordinary people and those ideas are inching ever closer to reality. At the same time, other companies plan to mine the Moon for helium-3, or asteroids for precious metals.
Science writer Andrew May takes an entertaining, in-depth look at the triumphs and heroic failures of our quixotic quest to commercialise the final frontier.
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Andrew May
The Space Business
From Hotels in Orbit to Mining the Moon - How Private Enterprise is Transforming Space
Book
10/2021
Icon Books
€11.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Andrew May is a freelance writer and former scientist, with a PhD in astrophysics. He has written five books in Icon's Hot Science series: Destination Mars, Cosmic Impact, Astrobiology, The Space Business and The Science of Music. He lives in Somerset.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Contents
- 1: Space for Everyone?
- 2: Suborbital Adventures
- 3: Into Orbit
- 4: Vacations in Space
- 5: Extraterrestrial Industries
- 6: The Billionaire Space Race
- Further Reading
- Index
- About the Author
- Copyright
