Class: Nonfiction
Reviewed by: Mark Lardas
Title: Rocket Desires: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Greenback House Race
Creator: Christian Davenport
Format: Hardcover/Kindle/Audiobook
Pages: 384
Writer: Crown Forex
Date: September 2025
Retail Worth: $32.00/$14.99/$20.70
ISBN: 978-0593594117
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The opening quarter of the twenty first Century noticed business house explode. American business launch corporations have already exceeded 100 profitable launches in 2025. That is larger than the worldwide launch complete in 2000.
Because the century began, curiosity targeted on three billionaires, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson. All began business corporations to construct and launch manned spacecraft. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk garnered the best consideration. The battle between two U.S. tech magnates appeared the last word enterprise cage match.
Rocket Desires: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Greenback House Race, by Christian Davenport, tells the story of the rivalry between the 2 males. Greater than that, it tells the story of U.S. house efforts within the twenty first Century, particularly manned house.
Whereas it examines spaceflight worldwide, together with China’s program, this guide primarily follows the progress of two corporations, Blue Origin and SpaceX. Blue Origin, owned by Bezos, began first. Elon Musk’s SpaceX was launched a couple of years later. Davenport clearly exhibits the distinction in targets and kinds of the 2 corporations.
For Blue Origin and Bezos, the Moon is the purpose. It’s Bezos’s private vacation spot. To get there, he employed expertise from the house trade. It additionally embraces a methodical strategy. Get all the things proper, then advance. The corporate’s motto is Gradatim Ferociter – step-by-step, ferociously. Its mascot is a tortoise.
For Musk, SpaceX was his instrument for reaching Mars. Musk intends to maneuver there, reside there, and ultimately die there. Every little thing SpaceX does, from its Falcon boosters, Dragon capsule, and Tremendous Heavy-Starship, is a method of attaining that purpose. Musk can be conscious of the expense concerned. He formed SpaceX right into a money-machine to generate the wanted capital. Musk is in a rush. SpaceX’s engineering strategy is to get as a lot proper as you’ll be able to, then go. If failure outcomes, study from the failure.
Davenport exhibits each corporations are utilizing engineering kinds embraced by NASA at completely different levels of its existence. Bezos embraces the Nineties NASA, an skilled group. Musk follows that of the Nineteen Sixties NASA, the brand new group keen to explode rockets to succeed in its vacation spot.
Davenport additionally data the outcomes of following every strategy. Blue Origin has a profitable New Shepard which has put folks into suborbital house fourteen instances and a struggling New Glenn orbital booster. Musk’s Falcon rocket has reached orbit lots of of instances, and its Dragon capsule has put folks into orbit 19 instances. SpaceX’s Starship, bigger than the Saturn V, is presently present process improvement testing.
Davenport takes readers behind the scenes not simply at Blue Origin and SpaceX, but in addition at different business house corporations and NASA. He exhibits how SpaceX went from a little-considered outsider to NASA’s greatest launch supplier. He exhibits how Boeing and Blue Origin fell by the wayside. The rationale, as Davenport exhibits, was firm efficiency, who delivered and who didn’t.
He additionally exhibits how Musk virtually sabotages SpaceX a number of instances. Musk apparently taking successful off a marijuana blunt on the Joe Rogan present alienated the strait-laced NASA Administrator James Bridenstine. Bridenstine virtually demanded Musk’s elimination from SpaceX.
Readers can inform Davenport is rooting for Bezos. Blue Origin is the house group for Davenport. He’s employed by the Washington Submit, owned by Jeff Bezos. But Davenport stays scrupulously honest all through the guide. He offers Musk due credit score for his successes and calls out Bezos for his shortcomings. Readers really feel he dislikes having to take action, although. Davenport deserves credit score for that, particularly since he’s very essential of Musk’s forays into politics.
Regardless of shortcomings, “Rocket Desires” is a wonderful guide. Davenport identifies the important thing factors of the final quarter-century in house. He identifies the elements that result in success in house and people who stifle progress. It’s a great primer within the steps wanted to realize leads to a cutting-edge subject of know-how.
© 2025 Mark Lardas
