When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach

 
        當獵鷹1 號在2008年升空，馬斯克的SpaceX成為首家成功打造低成本火箭的私人公司，這個里程碑帶來了重大的影響：矽谷──而非NASA或政府──突然之間成為了新太空時代的發展中心。新創公司和他們背後的投資人開始意識到，無人統治、浩瀚無垠的宇宙，已正式開張，成為商業競賽最新熱區。
 
        范思的新作，呈現了這場早已打得火熱的瘋狂星際搶位戰，描繪四間火箭公司Astra、Firefly、Planet Labs、Rocket Lab在這其中付出的努力。當大眾著迷於貝佐斯、理查．布蘭森等人大力推崇的「太空旅遊」新興服務時，范思書中描述的這些公司，卻將心力投注於截然不同的目標上：讓火箭和衛星的發射過程更快、更便宜，以開發低軌道區域的商業價值，並在其中建立推動人類下一波科技進化的新賽場，讓人們可以連結、分析、監測地球上的所有活動。
 
        范思更穿梭在這些遍布加州、德州、阿拉斯加、紐西蘭、烏克蘭、印度和法屬圭亞那的私人公司總部、實驗室、機密發射所，揭露他在報導過程中所見，這個產業隱蔽的另一面：私人飛機、配槍保鑣、藥物、間諜活動調查，以及那些縱情買醉的超級富豪，他們痛飲美酒，只為麻痺夢碎時刻帶來的劇痛。
 
        本書透過詳細的報導，寫下這個這時代最具爭議性的故事，紀錄這場令人瞠目結舌的競賽，在這其中，野心勃勃的人們，爭相競逐難以估計的高額回報，無畏地往太空全速前進。(文/博客來編譯)

　　A momentous look at the private companies driving a revolutionary new economy in space, from the New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk

　　With the launch of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2008, Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first private company to build a low-cost rocket that could reach orbit. And that milestone carried major implications: Silicon Valley, not NASA or nation states, was suddenly cemented as the epicenter of the new Space Age. Start-ups and the wealthy investors behind them began to realize that the universe—ungoverned and infinite—was open for business. Welcome to the Wild West of aerospace engineering.

　　When the Heavens Went on Sale tells the remarkable, unfolding story of this frenzied intergalactic land grab. Through his trademark immersive reporting, Ashlee Vance follows four pioneering companies—Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab—as they build new space systems and attempt to launch rockets and satellites into orbit by the thousands. While the public fixated on the space tourism being driven by the likes of Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, these new companies arrived with a different set of goals: to make rocket and satellite launches fast and cheap, thereby opening Earth's lower orbit for business—and setting it up as the next playing field for humankind's technological evolution, where we can connect, analyze, and monitor everything on Earth.

　　Vance has had a front-row seat and singular access to this peculiar and unprecedented moment in history. When the Heavens Went on Sale travels through private company headquarters, labs, and top-secret launch locations around the world, including California, Texas, Alaska, New Zealand, Ukraine, India, and French Guiana. He chronicles it all in full color: the private jets, communes, gun-toting bodyguards, drugs, espionage investigations, and multimillionaires guzzling booze to dull the pain as their fortunes disappear.

　　With the most detailed and intimate reporting of Vance's career, When the Heavens Went on Sale reveals the spectacular chaos of the new business of space, and what happens when the idealistic, ambitious minds of Silicon Valley turn their unbridled vision toward the limitless expanse of the stars. This is the most pressing and controversial technology story of our time, a tale of fascinating characters chasing unimaginable stakes as they race to space.