Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX

Here it is well over 10 years since SpaceX became a household word. Many of us followed the several companies vying to become launch providers for NASA under the COTS program established by the George W. Bush administration to help "privatize" commercial spaceflight. There were a good handful of them. Only one would succeed. This book details the early years of SpaceX, the trials and tribulations they encountered as they tried to do what some said was impossible without having 4000 employees and the backing of billions from the U.S. government. Yet, SpaceX triumphed through all that to become our main "go to" launch provider for lowering costs. This book details the ins and outs of those early days, and how they nearly failed. It is a good read and provides a great background to how a company can be run to be successful despite the huge odds against them.

Very interesting. Was nice reading how it all started and all of the dedication the workers put into each project!

Even if you are not a rocket / space nerd, Liftoff is a must read. The odyssey of Elon Musk shows how one man can change the world in a profound way. SpaceX and its brilliant hard-working employees, inspired by a genius with a vision, took on the world’s aerospace giants and state-run corporations and won. Doing what everyone told Elon was impossible, in a landscape littered with bankrupt companies that came before, Elon recruited some of the world’s best engineers to work until they dropped inspired by a common dream of the future. Eric Berger presents this beautifully written saga where grit, engineering brilliance and youthful exuberance overcame the near impossible task of starting a rocket company and then competing with established giants like Lockheed and Boeing and the European Space Agency and Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities. This is the story of the early days of SpaceX where failure was all but assured. Industry, customers, and governments first ignored them until success was possible than actively tried to sabotage their success. NASA and DARPA fed SpaceX lifesaving seed money when it appeared to their ultimate advantage. It was a near thing the survival of SpaceX and eventually it not only disrupted the industry but the world. Everyone ought to know the story.

As a huge fan of SpaceX I was eager to read the history of the early days and learn more about the people who made this possible. The detail on the early days is terrific and exactly what I wanted but after the fourth Falcon 1 launch everything was just rushed through. I think the author would have been better off leaving that for the next book instead of giving it such short shrift. BUT, the story telling is great and it was a pleasant read.

I was a pretty outspoken critic of SpaceX (I grew up with the Space Shuttle, and was not happy about the STS program being retired prematurely in 2011), until I followed the return to manned flight with NASA astronauts during the recent Dragon demonstration flight to the ISS. I then decided to read a book about the company.... This book.I am still not a fan of the SpaceX branding (it reminded me too much of the X Prize branding back have I first heard of it 15 years ago, as it was confusing, and it still sounds derivative), and, although cool and a P.R. dream, am not that thrilled about vertically landing rockets (that fuel could be used to increase payload delivered into orbit. I guess that I just got excited about Reagan announcing the National Aerospaceplane program in the 80's, what he called the new Orient Express, and wanted to see an era where scramjet powered spaceplanes would fly cost-effectively into orbit on a daily basis, the ultimate SSTO, or Single Stage To Orbit That aside, I'd like to see the return to some sort of spaceplane, as recovery options are better, and not a new twist on old methods that have been used since the space program began. Capsules and parachutes do have their issues). I am also not a fan of the Falcon branding for the launch vehicles, the Starship branding for that large rocket, and the Dragon branding for the spacecraft, although that Dragon logo is awesome. Ditto for my feelings about Musk himself..... I never was much of a fan and think that he succeeded in spite of himself rather than because of anything that he did; he was smart enough to surround himself with good, talented, smarter people, and they are why he succeeded, IMO.That said, I have changed my mind after reading this book and am kind of impressed, especially with the cost-effectiveness and frequency of the launches of their Falcon 9 workhorse, and the absolute disruption of the industry. You have to respect that, although, let's face it..... What happened had to happen eventually, and it could have with another company.I had thought that NASA has been funding private enterprise such as SpaceX and had no idea that SpaceX almost failed. I had no idea that Musk took a big risk by financing his start-up with his own money.Now I am glad that SpaceX succeeded.I highly recommend this book. It's great.

Excellent book. The best part is not focusing so much on Elon Musk and the other big guys, but all the little guys, most in their late 20s, who went to the island to make history. Elon twitted that the book is accurate, but not how we would tell this history, and I think thats the best compliment he could give!

A true life story that feels like fiction. Very well written and easy to follow, even tho there are tons of characters and life stories. I think this book made me appreciate more the work of the people behind the spotlight at SpaceX. Also great for entrepreneurs, business people and innovators.

Five years ago I read "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" (by Ashlee Vance) who covered Musk's beginnings from Zip2 (which was bought by Compaq before the merger with HP) then PayPal on to Tesla and SpaceX. I've been a space buff my whole life so found the SpaceX part of this book most intriguing because very little has been previously documented. I just finished "Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX" and am even more blown away by the stories of how Musk kept the program going like the one where Air Force politics drove SpaceX to mover the Falcon-1 launch site from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to an Army base at Kwajalein Atoll. (all space buffs already know that it was the US Army that hosted the efforts of rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun). I am not certain what became of Zip2 after Compaq acquired it but making Musk a millionaire definitely has made the world a more interesting place. Elon Musk will go down in history as a modern day "Howard Hughes". BUY THIS BOOK!

Just a great book. Nothing more to say.

In den frühesten Kapiteln von "Liftoff" erkundet Erik Berger die zündende Idee, die den Grundstein für das bahnbrechende Unternehmen SpaceX legte. Wie ein Philosoph des Fortschritts führt Berger den Leser in die Tiefen des Denkens von Elon Musk ein, einem Visionär, der die herkömmlichen Grenzen der Raumfahrt in Frage stellte. Musk's Beharrlichkeit, seine Fähigkeit, Konventionen zu durchbrechen, und sein unerschütterlicher Glaube an die Machbarkeit des Unmöglichen sind wie Farbtöne in Bergers stilistischer Leinwand.Durch die präzise Verwendung rhetorischer Techniken verleiht Berger der Entstehung der Falcon 1 eine beinahe mythologische Dimension. Er beschreibt die Spannung und die Rückschläge dieses Unterfangens als eine Art epischen Kampf zwischen Mensch und Maschine, bei dem die Grenzen des menschlichen Potenzials immer weiter hinausgeschoben werden. Bergers Worte entfachen ein inneres Feuer des Entdeckungsgeistes und der Entschlossenheit, das den Leser in den Schmelztiegel des Ingenieurwesens eintauchen lässt.Das Erzählen der historischen Anekdote von SpaceX wird zur Pilgerreise des Wissens, bei der Berger den Leser dazu ermutigt, sich in die Perspektive der Menschen einzufühlen, die die Fundamente dieses Unternehmens legten. Die rhetorische Frage, wie eine kleine Gruppe von Individuen es wagte, gegen die Schwerkraft der Konvention zu kämpfen und ihre Ideen in die Höhen der Realität zu erheben, wirft einen zarten Schleier der Reflexion über die Leser, die dazu angeregt werden, die eigene Fähigkeit zur Veränderung zu hinterfragen.Berger zelebriert die Rettungsmissionen und bahnbrechenden Erfolge von SpaceX mit einer lyrischen Eleganz, die den Nervenkitzel des Abenteuers einfängt. Er verwebt geschickt technische Details mit philosophischen Betrachtungen über die Natur der menschlichen Neugier und unser Streben nach einem tieferen Verständnis des Universums.In der Gesamtheit seiner Arbeit in "Liftoff" gelingt es Erik Berger, die Leser auf eine transzendente Reise durch Raum, Zeit und Gedanken mitzunehmen. Seine kühne Kombination aus philosophischer Reflexion und rhetorischer Kunst lässt uns staunen über die Menschheit's Bemühungen, den Himmel zu berühren, und erinnert uns daran, dass jeder Start eine Metapher für den Triumph des menschlichen Geistes ist.