Rocket Dreams

Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race

By: Christian Davenport

Narrated by: Dan Bittner

“Thrilling . . . an important tale of how American ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit is creating a new type of space age.”—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk

Musk vs. Bezos. China vs. the United States. The government vs. the private sector.

Welcome to the rivalries and alliances defining the New Space Age. At stake? Trillions of dollars, national prestige, and a place in the history books.

“A fine piece of reporting; historians will be able to use this first draft of rocket history to craft deeper analyses of our first real steps as a space-faring society.”—The New York Times

Moon landings and space walks once captivated the public’s attention. But, in recent decades, the U.S. space enterprise has felt moribund. Now, that’s finally about to change.

A fleet of powerful new rockets is poised to take humans into the cosmos more than ever before. A lunar land rush has sparked a geopolitical competition among nations. And the world’s two richest men have engaged in escalating brinkmanship, as NASA and the U.S. government embraces Silicon Valley innovation to jump-start the nation’s ambitions.

Space has entered a golden age, and this is just the beginning. In this gripping work, award-winning Washington Post writer Christian Davenport chronicles the mad scramble to shape humanity’s off-planet future. He takes readers behind the scenes at NASA and the Pentagon as China’s aggressive moon mining plans raise alarms, onto the sprawling Cape Canaveral factory where Blue Origin is working toward Amazon-style lunar deliveries, and onto SpaceX launch pads as Musk’s engineers log 100-hour weeks—leaving veteran astronauts marveling that they’re now operating “flying iPhones.”

What will happen as human ambition outpaces governmental regulation? Which country will win the race back to the moon? Was Donald Trump’s much-derided creation of the Space Force a surprising act of foresight, and will the U.S. finally make a real push to the moon and eventually toward Mars?

Masterfully paced, rigorously reported, and vividly told, Rocket Dreams offers a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of the grit-fueled global battle to push humankind further into the cosmos—revealing that the science fiction dreams of the last century may soon become our reality.

A fair, historical, and accurate story

Rocket Dreams followed the story, as it unfolded, over the past decade-plus, of the competition between Bezos and Musk. Unlike what some might suggest (wrongly), the book isn't politically biased in any way. It *does* cover the parts where politics and politicians intersect with the incidents, and is very fair and honest on those accounts. Just as the story of the original moon space race can't be told without mentioning Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon, the story of the current race necessarily involves Obama, Trump, and Biden.

That being said, the book doesn't dwell on that, but on the principles -- Musk and Bezos. It isn't a biography of either of them, but gives enough insights into what drives them in order to explain how they got to this point, what is driving them, their interactions and what separates them.

Enjoyable now and a colorful trip down memory lane many years from now.

Brilliant writing! I applaud the balanced view of both Jeff and Elon. It is both enjoyable now and will serve as a colorful trip down memory lane many years from now. Great book. I really enjoyed it, especially the personal anecdotes. Those stories really made it come to life. Bravo on a job well done!

Not much.

Less focused on rocket dreams and more focused on politics and whining. Author made himself the center of attention. The first book was written more professionally.

Political propaganda bashing Trump & Musk, no space insights.

This book spends %70 of its time bashing Trump and Musk, gives no coverage to Bezos’s corruption (like the lawsuits to inhibit SpaceX) and only uses space events as headlines, no significant details that aren’t well known already. No deep dives into the space efforts. But lots of political drama— standard Washington Post propaganda to pump BO.

Trump hater writes politcal book about rockets.

Author and WAPO reporter can't hide his Trump hating agenda. Audible has several other books that tell the rocket story well without the politics and bias.