It's the 21st-century and everything about the space industry is
changing, and leading that charge are private sector companies including
Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, which 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 pads of spaceflight.
Spaceports cost hundreds of millions of dollars, face extreme
competition, and host operations that do not tolerate failures--which
can often be fatal.Aerospace journalist Joe Pappalardo has witnessed
space rocket launches around the world, from the jungle of French Guiana
to the coastline of California. In his comprehensive work Spaceport
Earth, Pappalardo describes the rise of private companies and how they
are reshaping the way the world is using space for industry and science.
Spaceport Earth is a travelogue through modern space history as it is
being made, offering space enthusiasts, futurists, and technology buffs
a close perspective of rockets and launch sites, and chronicling the
stories of industrial titans, engineers, government officials,
billionaires, schemers, and politicians who are redefining what it means
for humans to be a spacefaring species.
