When the Heavens Went on Sale
The small-launch competitors created in SpaceX's wake.
Summary
Ashlee Vance, who wrote the Elon Musk biography, spent years reporting on the small satellite industry and produced this account of four companies attempting to build it: Planet Labs, Rocket Lab, Astra and Firefly Aerospace.
The premise is that the cost of reaching orbit has fallen far enough that a new industry of small satellites and small launch vehicles has become possible, and that this is happening outside the attention that SpaceX receives. Planet Labs built a constellation of small imaging satellites that photograph the entire land surface daily, which changed what commercial satellite imagery can do. Rocket Lab, founded in New Zealand by Peter Beck, built a small launch vehicle and reached orbit repeatedly. Astra attempted to build the cheapest possible rocket and failed repeatedly in public. Firefly went through bankruptcy and a change of ownership including a Ukrainian investor whom the American government forced out.
Vance has extraordinary access and the book is reported from inside the companies over years, including the failures. His broader argument is that daily imaging of the entire planet and cheap orbital access constitute a change whose consequences are not yet understood, and that the people building it are a specific and unusual group. The book is journalism rather than analysis, and its treatment of the business economics is thin: several of these companies have struggled financially since, which the narrative form does not address.
Key takeaways 7
- Falling launch costs made a small satellite industry possible that operates outside the attention SpaceX receives.
- Planet Labs built a constellation that images the entire land surface daily, which changed what commercial imagery can do.
- Building a small launch vehicle proved harder than the founders expected, and most of the attempts failed repeatedly in public.
- Rocket Lab reached orbit repeatedly by accepting a smaller payload target than its competitors pursued.
- Government national security concerns determine who may own space companies, which Firefly's forced ownership change demonstrated.
- Vance argues that daily global imaging constitutes a change whose consequences have not been worked through.
- The book is reported narrative and treats the business economics thinly, which matters because several of these companies have struggled financially.
Who should read it
Investors and founders in space and hardware who want reported detail on companies attempting to build a new industry, including their failures.
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Where it sits in the reference 2
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