Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race

Rocket Billionaires examines the rapid rise and rivalry of private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin. The book follows Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as they invest their fortunes in spaceflight, each viewing the new space race differently—as a potential dead end, a business opportunity, or humanity's path to survival. Beyond these two central figures, Tim Fernholz profiles other entrepreneurs reshaping the industry, including Richard Branson and Greg Wyler. The book documents how NASA, traditional aerospace firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, lobbyists, and lawmakers navigate this period of disruption. It explores the competition for public funding, regulatory challenges, and concerns about global conflict as private companies reshape the space economy.