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SpaceX #2
Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age
How did a shaky startup that barely got its first rocket off the ground defy expectations to become the world’s leading spaceflight company?Ìý Get the untold story of the team of game-changers, led by a well-known billionaire, who are sending NASA astronauts to space—and just might carry the human race to Mars.In the 21st century, space travel has become a commercial venture. And one company dominates the modern space SpaceX, founded by controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2002, and now sending more payloads into Earth orbit than the rest of the world combined.ÌýBut Musk didn’t do it alone. The saga of SpaceX is the story of a diverse cadre of true believers in the limitless potential of space travel. For the first time, Reentry relates the definitive chronicle of how this daring team of risk-takers was able to redefine what it takes to reach the stars.ÌýWith Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist Eric Berger, author of Liftoff, as your guide, you’ll accompany SpaceX’s innovative thinkers during their toughest trials and most audacious moments, Creating the first orbital rockets that can land by themselves and fly againTransporting a 120-ft rocket from Texas to Florida by truck via back roadsÌýFixing a cracked engine nozzle using hand tools, just days before liftoffÌýSending a wheel of cheese into orbitSearching the ocean for the first rocket that splashed down intactBeing in the room where it happened—when SpaceX nearly lost big to BoeingIdentifying the $4 part that led to a rocket exploding in flightModifying a Tesla to prevent implosion in spaceFrom launchpad explosions to a pernicious cricket infestation to the harsh management style of Musk himself, the rise of SpaceX was beset with challenges and far from inevitable. Find out how a start-up that no one thought could get off the ground flew high enough to outpace their rivals . . . and where they’re going next.
450 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 2024
238 people are currently reading
4,606 people want to read
About the author
Eric Berger
2Ìýbooks118ÌýfollowersEric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from new space to NASA policy. Eric has an astronomy degree from the University of Texas and a master's in journalism from the University of Missouri. He previously worked at the Houston Chronicle for 17 years, where the paper was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009 for his coverage of Hurricane Ike. A certified meteorologist, Eric founded Space City Weather and lives in Houston.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
October 16, 2024
A detailed dive into the engineering grit and sheer willpower that fueled SpaceX’s rise. Vividly captures the raw intensity of Elon Musk but more importantly his scrappy team as they battled failure after failure, pushing their ingenuity to the limits. The book makes you feel how every launch felt like life or death, and how every success was hard-won. A gripping narrative of how relentless perseverance and daring engineering rewrote the future of space travel. I also liked the fact that alongside Elon's contributions, Eric also focuses quite a bit on the efforts of the engineers on ground itself that made it happen.
December 10, 2024
Reentry : SpaceX, Elon Musk and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age (2024) by Eric Berger is a marvelous book about SpaceX. Berger is a longtime writer for Ars Technica, a website that has long had in depth articles on technical subjects. Reentry is a follow up to Liftoff, his first book about SpaceX.
Reentry is about SpaceX from 2008 onward. Berger has been covering SpaceX for many years and has fantastic access to the people involved, including Musk. Berger has a background in Astronomy. He demonstrates a real understanding of many of the technical issues that SpaceX has faced. He also explains them very well.
The book also conveys just how hard the people at SpaceX have worked. It is clearly not a company that does work life balance. The book mentions divorces. There are many people who leave after a years. Berger also writes about how this is viable for SpaceX. This is because it’s working on something that is so hard and yet so important. There are also people who come back because they miss the mission. Berger contrasts this to working at Twitter where delivering short messages just isn’t as important.
Reentry covers the period when SpaceX started to get launch contracts from 2008. There is a lot of detail on how they worked incredibly hard to improve their rockets as well. This reaches a crescendo when they manage to land a rocket again and are able to re-use rockets.
There are many engineers and characters involved, they become a bit hard to remember. However, Berger does a really good job in showing how people came in from various backgrounds to work for SpaceX. Some were from games companies, some from working at Sea world and other places.
Reentry does a really good job of conveying the tension involved with SpaceX. Various launches and important milestones had to be reached. The company could really have failed.
It is really interesting to read about how serious Musk is about getting to Mars. This has quite an impact and drives the company as well.
The book does a good job of conveying how SpaceX operates. People work really, really hard and solve problems fast. They repeatedly manage to do things much more cheaply than other companies. Musk drives the company and really pushes people to work super hard and solve their problems. It also clearly burns people out. For most normal companies this would be a disaster but it works for SpaceX.
The stories of the failures and the SpaceX investigations are also really interesting. When SpaceX has lost rockets they have quickly managed to find the faults and fix them.
The book illustrates what very smart, hard working people can achieve. Hopefully in a decade or so something similar will be written about Commonwealth Fusion or another similar company. Hopefully the books on SpaceX also continue and there is a third book about SpaceX getting to the moon.
Reentry is an excellent book for anyone interested in space flight and how SpaceX has managed to cut the cost of putting objects in orbit by so much. Berger knows his subject really well, had really good access and writes well.
Reentry is about SpaceX from 2008 onward. Berger has been covering SpaceX for many years and has fantastic access to the people involved, including Musk. Berger has a background in Astronomy. He demonstrates a real understanding of many of the technical issues that SpaceX has faced. He also explains them very well.
The book also conveys just how hard the people at SpaceX have worked. It is clearly not a company that does work life balance. The book mentions divorces. There are many people who leave after a years. Berger also writes about how this is viable for SpaceX. This is because it’s working on something that is so hard and yet so important. There are also people who come back because they miss the mission. Berger contrasts this to working at Twitter where delivering short messages just isn’t as important.
Reentry covers the period when SpaceX started to get launch contracts from 2008. There is a lot of detail on how they worked incredibly hard to improve their rockets as well. This reaches a crescendo when they manage to land a rocket again and are able to re-use rockets.
There are many engineers and characters involved, they become a bit hard to remember. However, Berger does a really good job in showing how people came in from various backgrounds to work for SpaceX. Some were from games companies, some from working at Sea world and other places.
Reentry does a really good job of conveying the tension involved with SpaceX. Various launches and important milestones had to be reached. The company could really have failed.
It is really interesting to read about how serious Musk is about getting to Mars. This has quite an impact and drives the company as well.
The book does a good job of conveying how SpaceX operates. People work really, really hard and solve problems fast. They repeatedly manage to do things much more cheaply than other companies. Musk drives the company and really pushes people to work super hard and solve their problems. It also clearly burns people out. For most normal companies this would be a disaster but it works for SpaceX.
The stories of the failures and the SpaceX investigations are also really interesting. When SpaceX has lost rockets they have quickly managed to find the faults and fix them.
The book illustrates what very smart, hard working people can achieve. Hopefully in a decade or so something similar will be written about Commonwealth Fusion or another similar company. Hopefully the books on SpaceX also continue and there is a third book about SpaceX getting to the moon.
Reentry is an excellent book for anyone interested in space flight and how SpaceX has managed to cut the cost of putting objects in orbit by so much. Berger knows his subject really well, had really good access and writes well.
December 15, 2024
I enjoyed this book very much, I thought it was well-written and engaging throughout. The nonlinear storytelling was a bit hard to follow at times, but I understand why it was necessary. There's just a lot of content that overlaps across a variety of programs. The anecdotes are interesting, and Berger clearly has extremely high-level access to the key players.Ìý
Working at a company mentioned in the book that isn't SpaceX, I didn't leave with the best feeling. SpaceX has accomplished things other companies wish they could, though it comes at a personal cost to many employees. However, I had some takeaways on why SpaceX has continued to be so successful.Ìý
Firstly, Musk is a dictator who understands the financial and (at least high-level) technical aspects of the company. He has the final say, and decisions can be routed through him rather than committees and middle-management. This is repeatedly showcased in the book and allows rapid decision making. Similarly, Musk singlehandedly owns the vision of the company. This seems to have helped in two respects: it keeps every employee focused on the end mission, and Musk can rapidly decide a capacity is (or isn't) needed based on how it fits his vision. There is a knock-on effect in that SpaceX attracts enthusiastic engineers willing to put in 60, 80, or 100 hour weeks in pursuit of that vision. Employee ownership via stock options is certainly also a driver of this enthusiasm. All of that stems from Musk, although at this point it's become self-perpetuating to some extent via the culture he instilled.
On the same token, most of the problems of the company seem to also stem from Musk. The most obvious example is his direct or indirect mistreatment of employees. Several direct examples are given: calls in the middle of the night or blame received for issues. Indirectly, the expectation of each employee to put in incredible work weeks originates with Musk. It's also briefly mentioned that the culture is toxic, especially for women. The book glosses over this in a few paragraphs, but I think it's more of a systemic issue (based on my own experiences of the SpaceX "bro culture").ÌýIt's remarkable that employees have to cope with this by accepting that, sooner or later, they will get tangled up in something Musk disagrees with and get unceremoniously fired.
Throughout the book I had to question whether Berger's personal opinions and professional relationships/access with SpaceX employees colored his reporting. At times, I think it did. Not the least of which is in how some competitors are protrayed which while valid criticism was also one-sided. However, on balance I think it was overall fair and criticized Musk's antics while celebrating the engineers under him and their achievements. This is most plain in the starting and ending chapters but is implied throughout. And I agree with the conclusion: SpaceX's success is tied to Musk; should he continue down an increasingly politicized path the goodwill SpaceX (rightly) has may decline. And without Musk (or Shotwell reigning him in) it's unclear if SpaceX can continue it's momentum.
Working at a company mentioned in the book that isn't SpaceX, I didn't leave with the best feeling. SpaceX has accomplished things other companies wish they could, though it comes at a personal cost to many employees. However, I had some takeaways on why SpaceX has continued to be so successful.Ìý
Firstly, Musk is a dictator who understands the financial and (at least high-level) technical aspects of the company. He has the final say, and decisions can be routed through him rather than committees and middle-management. This is repeatedly showcased in the book and allows rapid decision making. Similarly, Musk singlehandedly owns the vision of the company. This seems to have helped in two respects: it keeps every employee focused on the end mission, and Musk can rapidly decide a capacity is (or isn't) needed based on how it fits his vision. There is a knock-on effect in that SpaceX attracts enthusiastic engineers willing to put in 60, 80, or 100 hour weeks in pursuit of that vision. Employee ownership via stock options is certainly also a driver of this enthusiasm. All of that stems from Musk, although at this point it's become self-perpetuating to some extent via the culture he instilled.
On the same token, most of the problems of the company seem to also stem from Musk. The most obvious example is his direct or indirect mistreatment of employees. Several direct examples are given: calls in the middle of the night or blame received for issues. Indirectly, the expectation of each employee to put in incredible work weeks originates with Musk. It's also briefly mentioned that the culture is toxic, especially for women. The book glosses over this in a few paragraphs, but I think it's more of a systemic issue (based on my own experiences of the SpaceX "bro culture").ÌýIt's remarkable that employees have to cope with this by accepting that, sooner or later, they will get tangled up in something Musk disagrees with and get unceremoniously fired.
Throughout the book I had to question whether Berger's personal opinions and professional relationships/access with SpaceX employees colored his reporting. At times, I think it did. Not the least of which is in how some competitors are protrayed which while valid criticism was also one-sided. However, on balance I think it was overall fair and criticized Musk's antics while celebrating the engineers under him and their achievements. This is most plain in the starting and ending chapters but is implied throughout. And I agree with the conclusion: SpaceX's success is tied to Musk; should he continue down an increasingly politicized path the goodwill SpaceX (rightly) has may decline. And without Musk (or Shotwell reigning him in) it's unclear if SpaceX can continue it's momentum.
November 26, 2024
This is a fantastic book, but one sort of for those already in-the-know.
If you already understand that going to space is more about going sideways than it is about going up, this book is for you.
If you already know what a composite over wrapped pressure vessel is, this book is for you.
If you love the whole space industry, this is for you.
If you can’t wait for the next Scott Manley video, this is for you.
If you can’t wait for the next Everyday Astronaut video by Tim Dodd, this is for you.
If you can’t wait for each Saturday when there are new updates from Marcus House, this is for you.
If you can remember where you were and what you were doing when certain early Falcon 9s failed, launched, or landed, this book is for you.
This book is full of insider details. Where did Kathy Leuders sleep during a particularly nerve racking Falcon 9 launch? Who was the driver behind the upgraded parachutes that get the likes of NASA astronauts and Jared Isaacman back from orbit?
Yet it left me wanting more. How did SpaceX program the algorithms that determine when its returning rockets decide to puff out their limited nitrogen cold gas thrusters as they descend from the heavens toward the cold unyielding surfaces of ground or barge landing pads?
I don’t know.
And I want to.
But this book tells the great stories of some of the engineers who pushed SpaceX and by proxy humanity forward into the age of reusable rockets and launch vehicles.
I can’t wait for its sequel about Starship.
Excellent reading.
If you already understand that going to space is more about going sideways than it is about going up, this book is for you.
If you already know what a composite over wrapped pressure vessel is, this book is for you.
If you love the whole space industry, this is for you.
If you can’t wait for the next Scott Manley video, this is for you.
If you can’t wait for the next Everyday Astronaut video by Tim Dodd, this is for you.
If you can’t wait for each Saturday when there are new updates from Marcus House, this is for you.
If you can remember where you were and what you were doing when certain early Falcon 9s failed, launched, or landed, this book is for you.
This book is full of insider details. Where did Kathy Leuders sleep during a particularly nerve racking Falcon 9 launch? Who was the driver behind the upgraded parachutes that get the likes of NASA astronauts and Jared Isaacman back from orbit?
Yet it left me wanting more. How did SpaceX program the algorithms that determine when its returning rockets decide to puff out their limited nitrogen cold gas thrusters as they descend from the heavens toward the cold unyielding surfaces of ground or barge landing pads?
I don’t know.
And I want to.
But this book tells the great stories of some of the engineers who pushed SpaceX and by proxy humanity forward into the age of reusable rockets and launch vehicles.
I can’t wait for its sequel about Starship.
Excellent reading.
November 13, 2024
Simply incredible. While reading the book it feels like you’re actually taken to the events that shaped SpaceX as you experience them from the perspectives of the people that turned science-fiction into a reality. While I’ve been a fan of spaceflight and SpaceX for years, this book truly made me realise and respect the sacrifices and effort put in by so many people to make it all happen.
November 15, 2024
Bingeable and neatly episodic. Berger is fantastic with his technical explanations while not being pedantic. He also unhesitatingly shares his personal opinions (eg regarding Musk’s distractions) for a balanced, nuanced view grounded in his decades of experience as a veteran space reporter.
November 29, 2024
Eric Berger’s first book, “Liftoff�, covered SpaceX from its founding to its first successful launch into orbit in 2008. This second book covers the time from 2008 to 2023, when Spacex revolutionized and came to dominate the space industry. With many personal accounts from current and former SpaceXers, as well as other industry and government personnel, the book covers SpaceX’s successes and failures, including their relentless drive to press forward with Elon Musk’s vision for the company. The book shows how Musk is always pushing for the next thing, whether it be the Falcon 9, SpaceX’s first commercially viable rocket, landing and reusing rockets, the heavy lift Falcon Heavy rocket, the Crew Dragon that supplies the ISS, or Starship, which may take humans to the moon and Mars.
The author concludes with reasons why SpaceX has achieved its success, as well as potential pitfalls that could result in it losing its place in the industry.
Some examples of the approach that resulted in SpaceX’s success:
1. During the debut Dragon flight, a crack on the Falcon 9 second stage nozzle was discovered. This could cause the nozzle to tear itself apart. The obvious solution was to replace the nozzle, a delay of a month. Instead, since full second stage performance wasn’t needed for this demo flight, the team came up with a unique solution. A technician was raised to the level of the second stage with a crane. He then trimmed the entire nozzle back to beyond crack formation, using tin snips. He finished this job in 4 hours, allowing the launch to proceed.
2. During Dragon’s initial docking attempt with the ISS, the capsule lost LIDAR tracking at a range of 200 feet from the station. SpaceX diagnosed the problem and convinced NASA to allow them to patch the flight software and proceed with the mission, with the capsule less than a football field from the ISS. Because of the trust built up with NASA, SpaceX was allowed to patch the software and the mission was successful.
This is an interesting account of the company that has revolutionized commercial space flight.
The author concludes with reasons why SpaceX has achieved its success, as well as potential pitfalls that could result in it losing its place in the industry.
Some examples of the approach that resulted in SpaceX’s success:
1. During the debut Dragon flight, a crack on the Falcon 9 second stage nozzle was discovered. This could cause the nozzle to tear itself apart. The obvious solution was to replace the nozzle, a delay of a month. Instead, since full second stage performance wasn’t needed for this demo flight, the team came up with a unique solution. A technician was raised to the level of the second stage with a crane. He then trimmed the entire nozzle back to beyond crack formation, using tin snips. He finished this job in 4 hours, allowing the launch to proceed.
2. During Dragon’s initial docking attempt with the ISS, the capsule lost LIDAR tracking at a range of 200 feet from the station. SpaceX diagnosed the problem and convinced NASA to allow them to patch the flight software and proceed with the mission, with the capsule less than a football field from the ISS. Because of the trust built up with NASA, SpaceX was allowed to patch the software and the mission was successful.
This is an interesting account of the company that has revolutionized commercial space flight.
April 4, 2025
I read and thoroughly enjoyed Eric Berger's first book outlining how SpaceX got a rocket into space. This follow up book is somehow even more intense and awe inspiring as it chronicles SpaceX's drive to make reusable boosters and rockets and launch bigger and bigger payloads into space.
The shift in thinking that SpaceX's accomplishments represent is really incredible. Starting in 2016, SpaceX matched or exceeded the conventional space industry's record of total launches. Then SpaceX started outstripping the competition. In 2021, the industry giant launched five rockets. In one month alone, SpaceX launched five rockets.
And then factor in reusability. Suddenly the idea of affordable space travel wasn't preposterous.
One SpaceX booster would fly 11 missions. "A single Falcon 9 Booster, therefore, matched the performance of 11 expendable Atlas rockets. 11 Russian rocket engines lay on the bottom of the ocean. But at the surface, nine American engines stood atop a barge ready to fly again."
I wish I understood all the chemistry of rocket science but somehow I still enjoyed reading about liquid oxygen, testing different chemical propellants, and the wild goose chase of trying to diagnose failures that blew up spectacularly on launch pads and in tests along the way.
If you liked Liftoff, there are lots of similarities in both books; the single focus almost manic intensity Elon embodied in his quest to make space travel affordable, and to one day, reach Mars, the work hours and moving goal posts associated with that, and all the politics and hassle associated with navigating government agencies and contracts.
It's also still hard to follow Berger's non-linear chapters, but all in all, he has done it again, a fascinating, personality driven look at what it took to launch this second Space Age.
The shift in thinking that SpaceX's accomplishments represent is really incredible. Starting in 2016, SpaceX matched or exceeded the conventional space industry's record of total launches. Then SpaceX started outstripping the competition. In 2021, the industry giant launched five rockets. In one month alone, SpaceX launched five rockets.
And then factor in reusability. Suddenly the idea of affordable space travel wasn't preposterous.
One SpaceX booster would fly 11 missions. "A single Falcon 9 Booster, therefore, matched the performance of 11 expendable Atlas rockets. 11 Russian rocket engines lay on the bottom of the ocean. But at the surface, nine American engines stood atop a barge ready to fly again."
I wish I understood all the chemistry of rocket science but somehow I still enjoyed reading about liquid oxygen, testing different chemical propellants, and the wild goose chase of trying to diagnose failures that blew up spectacularly on launch pads and in tests along the way.
If you liked Liftoff, there are lots of similarities in both books; the single focus almost manic intensity Elon embodied in his quest to make space travel affordable, and to one day, reach Mars, the work hours and moving goal posts associated with that, and all the politics and hassle associated with navigating government agencies and contracts.
It's also still hard to follow Berger's non-linear chapters, but all in all, he has done it again, a fascinating, personality driven look at what it took to launch this second Space Age.
February 2, 2025
Great follow up to Liftoff but didn't feel as "in the trenches" as I had hoped.
I would have preferred that the book solely focus on the first few Falcon 9 launches, in the same way Liftoff covers the Falcon 1 launches, instead of the entire period from 2008 to 2023. Feels slightly more polished (or the gritty, accurate details omitted), but I am not really complaining that much.
Some notes:
Lots from Zach Dunn again but surprisingly little from Tom Mueller.
Hans Koenigsmann MVP.
Feel bad for Tim Buzza and Bulent Altan.
Very cool to see Robb Kulin appear a few times.
Never had heard of Mark Juncosa before so his description in the book lines up.
Dmitry Rogozin going from Head of Roscosmos to being injured in occupied Ukraine within one page was not something I expected.
Glad to see it took 300 or so pages before Trump gets mentioned, and when he does, he's acting like a dickhead.
Great epilogue from Eric regarding his worries for the future of SpaceX and valid concerns, that seem obvious thinking about it out loud.
Great book and lives up to the wait. Curious to see what Eric follows up with next.
Favourite bit:
Doug Hurley first appearing in the book as the only astronaut of six to successfully dock with space station on the first attempt in the simulator during testing of the Dragon capsule touch screen user interface, to state "Frankly, Dragon flew like shit," to actually being in the hot seat for the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission and the mission being a massive success.
I would have preferred that the book solely focus on the first few Falcon 9 launches, in the same way Liftoff covers the Falcon 1 launches, instead of the entire period from 2008 to 2023. Feels slightly more polished (or the gritty, accurate details omitted), but I am not really complaining that much.
Some notes:
Lots from Zach Dunn again but surprisingly little from Tom Mueller.
Hans Koenigsmann MVP.
Feel bad for Tim Buzza and Bulent Altan.
Very cool to see Robb Kulin appear a few times.
Never had heard of Mark Juncosa before so his description in the book lines up.
Dmitry Rogozin going from Head of Roscosmos to being injured in occupied Ukraine within one page was not something I expected.
Glad to see it took 300 or so pages before Trump gets mentioned, and when he does, he's acting like a dickhead.
Great epilogue from Eric regarding his worries for the future of SpaceX and valid concerns, that seem obvious thinking about it out loud.
Great book and lives up to the wait. Curious to see what Eric follows up with next.
Favourite bit:
Doug Hurley first appearing in the book as the only astronaut of six to successfully dock with space station on the first attempt in the simulator during testing of the Dragon capsule touch screen user interface, to state "Frankly, Dragon flew like shit," to actually being in the hot seat for the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission and the mission being a massive success.
January 28, 2025
Watching a 4K recording of a Starship landing (or better yet, the live video from onboard the rocket) can be quite an emotional experience. Imagine if you read the countdown for such a launch. Or designed its avionics. Or spent months away from home in some hole spending hours at a time doing manual adjustments to fiddly test systems. "Emotional" would give way to ecstasy.
The lengths people go when working toward a mission under the axe are impressive. And it turns out you can go much further per $ by having a credible shot at achieving the extraordinary.
Eric Berger did a great job covering the maturation of SpaceX into the dominant space company it is today. It's a solid account of the years after the Falcon 1, from the development of the Falcon 9 to the Dragon capsule, Falcon Heavy, Starlink, and Starship. It's clear that Berger cares about the new space age, and wants to endorse the spirit that made SpaceX what it is.
Controversies aside, the company has achieved what countries couldn't. It is by now the largest space program on Earth, with no close second. This book very entertainingly goes through some of the stories that demonstrate what it takes to get to this position.
The lengths people go when working toward a mission under the axe are impressive. And it turns out you can go much further per $ by having a credible shot at achieving the extraordinary.
Eric Berger did a great job covering the maturation of SpaceX into the dominant space company it is today. It's a solid account of the years after the Falcon 1, from the development of the Falcon 9 to the Dragon capsule, Falcon Heavy, Starlink, and Starship. It's clear that Berger cares about the new space age, and wants to endorse the spirit that made SpaceX what it is.
Controversies aside, the company has achieved what countries couldn't. It is by now the largest space program on Earth, with no close second. This book very entertainingly goes through some of the stories that demonstrate what it takes to get to this position.
August 27, 2024
I know I am not alone in being hesitant to read an arc that is at least in part about Elon Musk. I liked Twitter, and have really strongly disliked some of what Musk has said and supported over the past few years. It has almost been enough drama, mostly negative, to make me forget that Musk was also the person who started and has been running SpaceX. Thanks to this company, the science fiction I grew up reading may really be happening in my lifetime. And, since Musk was so distracted with all his non-space oriented drama, this book turns out to be mostly about SpaceX, while also acknowledging Musk's issues and limitations. I watched several of the more pivotal launches on livestreams, .so it was great reading the story of how these moments in modern science and technology happened. I do wonder if Musk can rein himself back in enough to actually stay focused on Mars, but if he can, or if someone younger and more focused can pick up where he leaves off, we may even see a Moon or Mars colony while I am still alive to see it.
October 19, 2024
Some books stand out because the information they convey is so important. Others stand out because they are so well written. This book stands out for both reasons. The story of SpaceX may be one of the most important stories in human history--especially if they succeed in getting humans to Mars. And this book tells that story in a way that won't let you stop reading.
The book is really a continuation of the author's earlier book, Liftoff. I haven't read Liftoff but I did read Ashley Vance's book on the early years of SpaceX and that prepared me adequately. It might be helpful to have read something about SpaceX and the Falcon 1 before picking up this book.
Be aware: this story has so many threads that it can't be told chronologically. So be prepared to jump backward and forward many years at a time from one chapter to the next.
The book is really a continuation of the author's earlier book, Liftoff. I haven't read Liftoff but I did read Ashley Vance's book on the early years of SpaceX and that prepared me adequately. It might be helpful to have read something about SpaceX and the Falcon 1 before picking up this book.
Be aware: this story has so many threads that it can't be told chronologically. So be prepared to jump backward and forward many years at a time from one chapter to the next.
February 6, 2025
Fascinating and informative read. I had no idea the extent of SpaceX's disruption and innovation in the industry. Without knowing very much myself, I feel like Berger does a good job of balancing the strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures of company and the people involved. Came away thrilled and excited about the future of American space exploration.
I won this as a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway.
I won this as a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway.
January 20, 2025
Perfectly serviceable treatment of the topic. I was familiar with most of the technological subjects, but hearing about SpaceX in the news sometimes did not give me a clear view of its development at all.
January 20, 2025
Good easy quick read on SpaceX’s path to reusable rockets. Entertaining vignettes and highlights how intense the culture is at SpaceX.
February 28, 2025
Dog ain’t scared
September 26, 2024
The follow up to Berger's Liftoff, that followed SpaceX from its founding to the succesful last flight of Falcon 1, Reentry follows the Falcon 9 program, the introduction of landing and reuse of its first stage, Falcon Heavy's development, the Dragon Cargo and Crew Dragon, Starship, Starlink that has made SpaceX into a juggernaut today that is frankly eating the lunch of all its competitors. To be honest, these things make it much more interesting to me than Liftoff, however, the sheer amount of material it covers means it has less detail for every topic.
A must read for understanding where new space is headed, and why legacy aerospace is unlikely to catch up anytime soon (if ever).
A must read for understanding where new space is headed, and why legacy aerospace is unlikely to catch up anytime soon (if ever).
October 10, 2024
Similar to the first book - a lot of stories about SpaceX's achievements and it's brilliant employees. This one provides interesting details regarding competition with ULA and Boeing and cooperation with NASA.
August 17, 2024
I read a preview from the publisher and this is an excellent read in the same vein as Berger’s first book. Berger writes really well and makes the book hard to put down. I was most struck by the way NASA employees time and again opens the door for SpaceX to change the industry even as personal risk. The old industry giants however do not come if very well in this book, and when I read it the Boeing Starliner was still stuck at the space station.
September 26, 2024
Loved the behind the scenes, and the ridiculous stories.
"Duderino, we're going to rock your world" is the funniest quote in the book imo
Make sure you have your Johnny Cash, Green Day and Metallica ready if you like music while you read
Although I understand all the jumping back and forth in time for chapters was probably nessecary it did still feel a little bit disorienting
"Duderino, we're going to rock your world" is the funniest quote in the book imo
Make sure you have your Johnny Cash, Green Day and Metallica ready if you like music while you read
Although I understand all the jumping back and forth in time for chapters was probably nessecary it did still feel a little bit disorienting
November 13, 2024
Everyone in the aerospace industry agrees that SpaceX has revolutionized the launch industry, and in this book Berger explains how they did so. SpaceX developed the most reliable and frequently launched rocket ever for the lowest cost ever by reusing the first stage of their Falcon 9 rocket, bringing in-house much of their supply chain, and constantly driving for cheaper engineering fixes to their problems. This drive was spearheaded by the private company’s CEO, Elon Musk. Musk constantly demands that his team work faster and cheaper, and while they never meet his ridiculous goals, they accomplish amazing things just by trying. Berger makes the case that SpaceX wouldn’t be able to maintain this culture and focus without Musk who has always been willing to take big risks and own the consequences when they do and don’t pay off. He worries that Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and increasingly erratic political moves could negatively affect SpaceX. While Musk’s demands have led to the Falcon 9’s amazing affordability and reliability, they also burn people out throughout the organization. SpaceX goes through a lot of young engineers who are willing to work 100 hour weeks to do amazing things, but find that that pace isn’t sustainable in the long run and then end up moving on. There’s a price to success, I guess. I know one thing for sure though, I never want to work for Musk, but I admire and appreciate the SpaceX team and the incredible things they’ve accomplished. Who knows, maybe in five years Berger will write another book about the development of SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship vehicle that Musk promises will revolutionize the space industry again and be humanity’s ride to Mars. The cynic in me is skeptical, but so far SpaceX has delivered on every promise it’s made, so I wouldn’t bet against them.
February 17, 2025
I read this book to learn the behind-the-scene stories of SpaceX and understand Musk's role in SpaceX's success. For these purposes, I am not disappointed. In fact, I am even pleasantly surprised by the epilogue where the author offered his sincere concern about a potential down fall of SpaceX due to Musk's shenanigans. The mind-boggling success of CATCHING Starship's super heavy booster in Oct 2024 showed that, at least temporarily, SpaceX has not lost the trailblazing spirit yet. However, how much longer can it keep pushing like a maniac towards the loft goal of interplanetary humanity, especially when its main man is now batshit crazy?
The work-life balance in SpaceX is non-existent; engineers are worked harder than farm animals. For a normal company, this is not sustainable as engineers would quit and the bad rep would make fresh recruitment impossible. Yet, the people willing to work for SpaceX were true believers. It was not "work" that they were doing, it was a noble sacrifice for a future they believed in. Come to think of it, the line between a SpaceXer working 100 hours per week for months on end and a religious zealot is strikingly blurred. Interplanetary humanity is their religion, SpaceX their temple of worship, and Musk their Messiah.
While it was the engineers who made all the technological leapfrogs in SpaceX and actually built the rockets, I have to admit that Musk is the real reason why any of these achievements were possible in the first place. Without his relentless and unreasonable pushing, the engineers would never have even attempted the seemingly impossible tasks. And if they hadn't attempted it, none of the innovation would have been possible. Even Musk's clearly ridiculous timelines served their purposes, albeit with a very high price tag, as they helped realize the real boundary of engineering (e.g., landing Dragon with propulsion system). Without Musk and his craziness, the space industry would still be doing their things the old way. Why would Boeing and the Russians land a rocket and reduce the launch cost 10x when they are already so comfortable with the fat government contracts? SpaceX, with a laser-focused Musk, is the best that competition and capitalism can bring to the table.
I have my utmost respect to all those who have worked or are still working in SpaceX. I myself am very certain that I would not survive such a harsh work environment, because deep down, I am pessimistic about humanity becoming interplanetary.
Memorable quotes
p 198 (Internal politics are the killer of innovation. Having a strong man dictate priorities eliminates any political struggle and makes it possible for the whole company to bulldozer forward. There is definitely pros and cons with a strong man approach, but in this particular scenario, strong man is indeed a better choice.
p 260
p 288 (Before Musk took off his mask and embraced madness, he was truly a force to be reckoned with)
The work-life balance in SpaceX is non-existent; engineers are worked harder than farm animals. For a normal company, this is not sustainable as engineers would quit and the bad rep would make fresh recruitment impossible. Yet, the people willing to work for SpaceX were true believers. It was not "work" that they were doing, it was a noble sacrifice for a future they believed in. Come to think of it, the line between a SpaceXer working 100 hours per week for months on end and a religious zealot is strikingly blurred. Interplanetary humanity is their religion, SpaceX their temple of worship, and Musk their Messiah.
While it was the engineers who made all the technological leapfrogs in SpaceX and actually built the rockets, I have to admit that Musk is the real reason why any of these achievements were possible in the first place. Without his relentless and unreasonable pushing, the engineers would never have even attempted the seemingly impossible tasks. And if they hadn't attempted it, none of the innovation would have been possible. Even Musk's clearly ridiculous timelines served their purposes, albeit with a very high price tag, as they helped realize the real boundary of engineering (e.g., landing Dragon with propulsion system). Without Musk and his craziness, the space industry would still be doing their things the old way. Why would Boeing and the Russians land a rocket and reduce the launch cost 10x when they are already so comfortable with the fat government contracts? SpaceX, with a laser-focused Musk, is the best that competition and capitalism can bring to the table.
I have my utmost respect to all those who have worked or are still working in SpaceX. I myself am very certain that I would not survive such a harsh work environment, because deep down, I am pessimistic about humanity becoming interplanetary.
Memorable quotes
But this decision was not based solely on physics. Rather, it was due to politics and rivalries between the agency's field centers. Marshall Space Flight Center, in Alabama, already had its bread and butter with existing propulsion technology. And NASA management had little appetite for the exploding test articles that would necessarily accompany densification development. Neither of these were barriers at SpaceX, which could afford to fail.
p 198 (Internal politics are the killer of innovation. Having a strong man dictate priorities eliminates any political struggle and makes it possible for the whole company to bulldozer forward. There is definitely pros and cons with a strong man approach, but in this particular scenario, strong man is indeed a better choice.
The reason why Musk's style works at SpaceX, but not X, is simple. The 10,000 people who chose to work at SpaceX knew what they were getting into. Musk is a known quantity in the space industry. Prospective employees speak with friends about the work environment. Most importantly, they believe in the mission. Like, they really believe. And their vision aligns with Musk's sweeping and passionate goals for spaceflight....Not everyone felt so fervently, but most SpaceX employees were true believers. By contrast, many Twitter employees had never signed up to work for Musk and were appalled by their new boss's vision for their social network and his determination to rapidly bring it about.
p 260
"We tortured SpaceX for more than three years before we finally approved load-and-go...We could easily have said no, There was a lot of pressure on us to say no and do things like we always had done sine Apollo. Any other company would have given in. But this was critical tot he reusability of Falcon 9, and it's a testament to Elon's single-minded vision."...So committed was Musk that he willingly took on not just NASA but the entire human spaceflight community...."Without him, there is no reusability revolution".
p 288 (Before Musk took off his mask and embraced madness, he was truly a force to be reckoned with)
Read
January 12, 2025I decided to read Reentry after reading the amazing review by John P. Smith (seriously, one of the best book reviews I’ve ever read: thepsmiths dot com /p/review-reentry-by-eric-berger ). This was in conjunction with my interest in understanding why people are so mesmerized by Elon Musk, despite him seemingly being bad at thinking (in a way that is very visible to the public), short-sighted, and emotionally temperamental (he is also a mean person, which to me is even worse than having bad values or being dumb). I kept receiving the same answer from many people in the online sphere I spend time in: that they idolize Elon Musk based on what he did for SpaceX.
As someone not interested in space exploration, I didn’t know very much about SpaceX, so I wanted to better understand if SpaceX was actually so impressive, and if so, what Musk did to make this happen.
I now know a small amount about SpaceX and get why people are taken by this story. SpaceX really is a tremendous success, and some people view space exploration as amongst their most civilizational important priorities. Elon has a certain temperament and mindset, which is just who he was born as—not something he reasoned his way into—and it happens to be an approach that leads to incredible success in this domain.
I’m interested in this because now that I think success with this framework has been validated as a proof of concept, I believe there will be other entrepreneurs who will now replicate it.
NOTE: This is a bit tricky because one of the key conditions that enabled SpaceX’s success is being completely okay with failure and everything going to zero. Arguably, this likely selects for someone who is already rich, but it may just be someone who truly doesn’t care for various reasons.
The reason for this, and something I can attest to as a lawyer, is that most people are way too conservative, routinely avoiding anything that can jeopardize their job/status/place in the world. Generally, it is bad to need to buy insurance for things, and both organizationally as directed by the CEO and aggregated throughout all the self-serving decisions most organizations� employees make, there is a huge glut of conservatism impairing most companies due to a fear of existential risks. This isn’t just about an unwillingness to take positive EV bets that come with severe consequences, but to succeed in any truly audacious project, you likely need to be taking tons of negative EV bets and hope they turn out well.
The basic setup and algorithm of Elon Musk is:
- Hire a bunch of very smart people who truly believe in the mission of what they are doing, so much so that they will work under any conditions and not quit.
- Be very selective about who you include, such that it leads to a group that is nearly all male.
- Do not allow any—not just DEI—but even basic human resources infrastructure. Make it more akin to a group of all-male engineering friends working on a university project.
Then, do these three simple things:
1) Routinely ask: Is there a way to do this 2x (or 10x) less expensively?
2) Routinely ask: Is there a way to do this 2x (or 10x) faster?
3) Routinely ask: Is there a way to do this 2x (or 10x) more effectively?
Imagine your boss comes to you a month before a big project is going to wrap up and says, “We actually need this done in two weeks. Drop everything and do whatever it takes to make it happen.� Sure, you get it done, but it sucks!
Now imagine this happens to you nearly every week across multiple domains (time, effectiveness, costs). In a normal business, everyone would rage quit. But when you love it so much there is no other place you would want to be, you just suck it up and do it.
The benefits of all of these gains then compound over time in a way that traditional companies cannot replicate.
With all this said, I think SpaceX will continue to succeed, but I do not think Elon Musk will remain involved in the longterm. My view is that who he is as a person, he cannot operate without doubling down on all aspects of his life and continuing to escalate. Based on this, I think there is a very high probability that Elon Musk will find himself facing his own existential consequences—legal, or straight up dying—that prevent him from leading SpaceX long-term.
NOTE: The author of this book seems like a great dude. Since I’m not actually that interested in the content of the book other than for cultural insights about Musk, I don’t feel comfortable rating it. If you like space stuff, its probably a great book.
As someone not interested in space exploration, I didn’t know very much about SpaceX, so I wanted to better understand if SpaceX was actually so impressive, and if so, what Musk did to make this happen.
I now know a small amount about SpaceX and get why people are taken by this story. SpaceX really is a tremendous success, and some people view space exploration as amongst their most civilizational important priorities. Elon has a certain temperament and mindset, which is just who he was born as—not something he reasoned his way into—and it happens to be an approach that leads to incredible success in this domain.
I’m interested in this because now that I think success with this framework has been validated as a proof of concept, I believe there will be other entrepreneurs who will now replicate it.
NOTE: This is a bit tricky because one of the key conditions that enabled SpaceX’s success is being completely okay with failure and everything going to zero. Arguably, this likely selects for someone who is already rich, but it may just be someone who truly doesn’t care for various reasons.
The reason for this, and something I can attest to as a lawyer, is that most people are way too conservative, routinely avoiding anything that can jeopardize their job/status/place in the world. Generally, it is bad to need to buy insurance for things, and both organizationally as directed by the CEO and aggregated throughout all the self-serving decisions most organizations� employees make, there is a huge glut of conservatism impairing most companies due to a fear of existential risks. This isn’t just about an unwillingness to take positive EV bets that come with severe consequences, but to succeed in any truly audacious project, you likely need to be taking tons of negative EV bets and hope they turn out well.
The basic setup and algorithm of Elon Musk is:
- Hire a bunch of very smart people who truly believe in the mission of what they are doing, so much so that they will work under any conditions and not quit.
- Be very selective about who you include, such that it leads to a group that is nearly all male.
- Do not allow any—not just DEI—but even basic human resources infrastructure. Make it more akin to a group of all-male engineering friends working on a university project.
Then, do these three simple things:
1) Routinely ask: Is there a way to do this 2x (or 10x) less expensively?
2) Routinely ask: Is there a way to do this 2x (or 10x) faster?
3) Routinely ask: Is there a way to do this 2x (or 10x) more effectively?
Imagine your boss comes to you a month before a big project is going to wrap up and says, “We actually need this done in two weeks. Drop everything and do whatever it takes to make it happen.� Sure, you get it done, but it sucks!
Now imagine this happens to you nearly every week across multiple domains (time, effectiveness, costs). In a normal business, everyone would rage quit. But when you love it so much there is no other place you would want to be, you just suck it up and do it.
The benefits of all of these gains then compound over time in a way that traditional companies cannot replicate.
With all this said, I think SpaceX will continue to succeed, but I do not think Elon Musk will remain involved in the longterm. My view is that who he is as a person, he cannot operate without doubling down on all aspects of his life and continuing to escalate. Based on this, I think there is a very high probability that Elon Musk will find himself facing his own existential consequences—legal, or straight up dying—that prevent him from leading SpaceX long-term.
NOTE: The author of this book seems like a great dude. Since I’m not actually that interested in the content of the book other than for cultural insights about Musk, I don’t feel comfortable rating it. If you like space stuff, its probably a great book.
December 23, 2024
This book effectively picks up where Liftoff left off. Plus, it covers Elon Musk's, how to put this, mental decline over the last several years. But ultimately what this book does is tells the story of the hard work that a lot of people put in to make a private company successful and the future of human spaceflight a little brighter.
I'm going to start off with something I complained about in Liftoff and that's the non-linear storytelling the author uses here. Now, he addresses it somewhat at the end of this book - the difficulty of telling so many converging stories with one greater overarching theme. I still prefer non-fiction to be as linear as possible, but I will table that complaint here.
This is only Eric Berger's second book, but he has solidified himself as THE person to report on and write about SpaceX. He does an amazing job balancing telling the story of numerous people not named Elon Musk who had the tenacity and hard-work ethic to make human spaceflight and space exploration more affordable. He doesn't mince words when it comes to writing about failures during the process of making reusable rockets. And SpaceX certainly is no stranger to failure. In fact, as Berger pointed out in this book and its predecessor, SpaceX was built upon the ideology that failure leads to success. The main reason SpaceX has been able to succeed where it has is that it hasn't shied away from failure. Now, Berger also does a good job of getting across that SpaceX is most certainly not cavalier with human lives. Let's be clear about that.
Again Berger pulled no punches when talking about Musk. He gives praise where praise is due to be sure. Without Musk, there would be no SpaceX, no Falcon rockets, and quite possibly no US transportation to the International Space Station. Boeing is failing all the time and Blue Origin just does seem to have the drive that SpaceX has. And that SpaceX drive is due to the culture that Musk cultivated when the company started.
But, and this may come as a shock to you (it won't), Musk can be quite divisive. To put it about as diplomatically as possible. Berger touches in the book on how Musk single-handedly ruined Twitter when he acquired the company. Well, maybe not single-handedly. That platform is a toilet bowl if I've ever seen one. And Berger also talks about Musk's switcheroos in political positions. Somehow ($$$) he convinced Trump to take him under his wing and essentially create a position for Musk. A lot of people think this is a conflict of interest given Musk's ownership of SpaceX. But currently SpaceX is the US's only real option for launching satellites, supplies, and people into space. Being able to whisper in the President's ear to move along space policy isn't really going to help SpaceX any more than the mere fact that there just isn't competition at this point for SpaceX. The biggest issue with Musk, like the President he buddies around with, is his mouth.
That's enough politics for this review. And with that, I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm eager to see how SpaceX continues to push the envelope and get the US into space over the next few years. As soon as Berger writes a new book about it, I'll be here to read it!
I'm going to start off with something I complained about in Liftoff and that's the non-linear storytelling the author uses here. Now, he addresses it somewhat at the end of this book - the difficulty of telling so many converging stories with one greater overarching theme. I still prefer non-fiction to be as linear as possible, but I will table that complaint here.
This is only Eric Berger's second book, but he has solidified himself as THE person to report on and write about SpaceX. He does an amazing job balancing telling the story of numerous people not named Elon Musk who had the tenacity and hard-work ethic to make human spaceflight and space exploration more affordable. He doesn't mince words when it comes to writing about failures during the process of making reusable rockets. And SpaceX certainly is no stranger to failure. In fact, as Berger pointed out in this book and its predecessor, SpaceX was built upon the ideology that failure leads to success. The main reason SpaceX has been able to succeed where it has is that it hasn't shied away from failure. Now, Berger also does a good job of getting across that SpaceX is most certainly not cavalier with human lives. Let's be clear about that.
Again Berger pulled no punches when talking about Musk. He gives praise where praise is due to be sure. Without Musk, there would be no SpaceX, no Falcon rockets, and quite possibly no US transportation to the International Space Station. Boeing is failing all the time and Blue Origin just does seem to have the drive that SpaceX has. And that SpaceX drive is due to the culture that Musk cultivated when the company started.
But, and this may come as a shock to you (it won't), Musk can be quite divisive. To put it about as diplomatically as possible. Berger touches in the book on how Musk single-handedly ruined Twitter when he acquired the company. Well, maybe not single-handedly. That platform is a toilet bowl if I've ever seen one. And Berger also talks about Musk's switcheroos in political positions. Somehow ($$$) he convinced Trump to take him under his wing and essentially create a position for Musk. A lot of people think this is a conflict of interest given Musk's ownership of SpaceX. But currently SpaceX is the US's only real option for launching satellites, supplies, and people into space. Being able to whisper in the President's ear to move along space policy isn't really going to help SpaceX any more than the mere fact that there just isn't competition at this point for SpaceX. The biggest issue with Musk, like the President he buddies around with, is his mouth.
That's enough politics for this review. And with that, I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm eager to see how SpaceX continues to push the envelope and get the US into space over the next few years. As soon as Berger writes a new book about it, I'll be here to read it!
December 31, 2024
Eric Berger has now written two books on the rise of SpaceX, first covering the quest to make the first successful launch of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2008 and then covering the incredible pace of Falcon 9 operations that have now resulted in the organization sending more payloads into Earth orbit than the rest of the world combined. Readers should understand that the two books are works of journalism, meaning they are not intended for an academic audience and do not have the scholarly apparatus that one would expect from books for that audience. But I believe this book should be a useful reference for academics like myself in the future, because Berger interviewed dozens of people to bring readers behind the scenes of the most ambitious rocket company in the world. He succeeds in outlining the life backgrounds of some of the most vital SpaceX employees, their motivations for joining the company, the problems that they have solved as the organization has scaled up operations from 2008 to the present, and the ways that their approach to solving problems has differed from governments or companies of the past. This last point is especially instructive for those who seek to understand the significance of SpaceX and what the organization has accomplished. For instance, employees placed the Falcon 9 rocket on a truck and transported it from Texas to Florida before its first launch because this was a cheaper transportation method than air or sea transport. One employee successfully snipped off a portion of a rocket engine nozzle just days before a Falcon 9 launched into space so that SpaceX would not have to deal with the time and expense of replacing the engine. Most significantly of all, SpaceX has pursued the goals of landing boosters on drone ships and then reusing them to cut down on the cost of launches, even as critics spent years arguing that this was unrealistic. The organization has withstood setbacks along the way, which Berger recounts in his descriptions of the 2015 Falcon 9 launch mishap and a prelaunch mishap in 2016. But all of these developments and many more illustrate Berger's point that the organization is not afraid to try new approaches that have saved time and funding. Thanks to Berger's reporting, readers will understand the people who have made those approaches possible, the problems they have had to solve, the incredible work ethic they have needed to summon (up to 100 hours per week on their jobs), and the dominance of the space launch industry that their organization has attained in the 2020s. He ends the book with the message that he is worried about SpaceX founder Elon Musk, because in recent years Musk "has alienated a lot of people" and raised concerns about his "credibility with investors." But Berger is definitely an admirer of what SpaceX has accomplished and I agree that the organization does deserve admiration. Thanks to this book, readers will understand not only that SpaceX has become the dominant player in the business of space launch but also the how and why behind their success.
November 24, 2024
A very readable account of how SpaceX came to dominate the rocket and space flight industry. Elon Musk inspired and fiercely drove the achievement. However, Berger's book makes clear that the hundreds or perhaps thousands of technical accomplishments were the work of engineers and technicians who were dedicated to their tasks with equally ferocious drive and enthusiasm. It helped that many were in their 20s and could cope with 80- to 100-hour work weeks, although the cost was steady attrition that saw people eventually opt for family life. While the writing was very clear and often entertaining, I found it often too chatty and a little too skewed to a sort of tech bro mentality, complete with casual profanity. And while the book explained many of the exceedingly complex and astonishing technical developments, I wouldn't have minded seeing more, such as an explanation of how the first and second stages of the rockets are put together.
The book is very much about the engineers. But Musk hovers over the whole history like a demanding, visionary, occasionally objectionable Prospero. Berger sounds like a fan. But he is balanced enough to note that Musk "indulges in conspiracy theories" and has at times driven away key SpaceX executives with overly forceful behaviour and a somewhat fitful ability to show appreciation. Now in late 2024, Musk has been nominated to become co-head of Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency. The book offers some clues as to how that appointment will work out. Musk built SpaceX with the willing engagement of thousands of engineers and technicians who very much wanted to be part of what they saw as a thrilling and historic project. They knew full well they might last only about five years before burning out or being fired. That's hardly a pattern that can be applied in many other contexts. He has also been running a company whose targets are related to development of specific hardware, with a lot of ancillary computer software. That suggests Musk may have a lot of useful observations about things like infrastructure development and defence procurement (one hopes the Canadian government picks up some lessons about the latter). In other huge areas such as health, education, and social security he may be more a bull in a china shop. We'll see. The book also makes it clear that while SpaceX is a spectacular private-enterprise success story, it benefited from key episodes of heavy risk taking by senior officials in government agencies.
Hanging in the background of all this is Musk's overall ambition to colonize Mars as a way of protecting humanity against an extinction event such as a huge asteroid collision. Berger documents Musk's obsession with that goal. It's all too easy to see this ultra-mega-scale ambition as something likely to absorb far too many human and financial resources, and as something uncomfortably akin to the tendency of many authoritarian rulers to indulge in daydreams of immortality.
The book is very much about the engineers. But Musk hovers over the whole history like a demanding, visionary, occasionally objectionable Prospero. Berger sounds like a fan. But he is balanced enough to note that Musk "indulges in conspiracy theories" and has at times driven away key SpaceX executives with overly forceful behaviour and a somewhat fitful ability to show appreciation. Now in late 2024, Musk has been nominated to become co-head of Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency. The book offers some clues as to how that appointment will work out. Musk built SpaceX with the willing engagement of thousands of engineers and technicians who very much wanted to be part of what they saw as a thrilling and historic project. They knew full well they might last only about five years before burning out or being fired. That's hardly a pattern that can be applied in many other contexts. He has also been running a company whose targets are related to development of specific hardware, with a lot of ancillary computer software. That suggests Musk may have a lot of useful observations about things like infrastructure development and defence procurement (one hopes the Canadian government picks up some lessons about the latter). In other huge areas such as health, education, and social security he may be more a bull in a china shop. We'll see. The book also makes it clear that while SpaceX is a spectacular private-enterprise success story, it benefited from key episodes of heavy risk taking by senior officials in government agencies.
Hanging in the background of all this is Musk's overall ambition to colonize Mars as a way of protecting humanity against an extinction event such as a huge asteroid collision. Berger documents Musk's obsession with that goal. It's all too easy to see this ultra-mega-scale ambition as something likely to absorb far too many human and financial resources, and as something uncomfortably akin to the tendency of many authoritarian rulers to indulge in daydreams of immortality.
October 20, 2024
This is a worthy sequel to Berger’s first offering on SpaceX, Liftoff. The tone of the book is different and Berger does a good job of explaining why in the introduction - less access and a more complex story. The book feels a bit more disorganized especially due to time jumps. Despite this challenge you get a good picture of the technical progress at SpaceX from roughly 2008 to around 2020 (when a crewed Dragon first visited ISS).
After reading the epilogue I feel a little better about Berger’s bias when it comes to his reporting on SpaceX. While he’s clearly a SpaceX fan he also admits to it and shares many of the same reservations about the state of the industry that I do. As with his writing for Ars Technica, the writing is honest and accurate but still tinged with his personal feelings and excitement with the events. I’m not used to so many “I� statements from an author in a non fiction book where the author is not at the center of events, but they are there.
The heart and soul of this book and what makes it a necessary read for anyone interested in American spaceflight today is the stories from the employees themselves. Berger tells dozens of essential tales from Hawthorne, McGregor, Starbase, and the Cape from the employees that make spaceflight magic happen. Even as an avid space news follower, many of the stories included in the book were new to me. It was fun to hear what was happening behind the scenes during years that I was on the NASA side of the fence on these programs, hoping for SpaceX to succeed but also worried about their safety approach.
I would say that Reentry’s most important achievement is putting SpaceX into the context of their strengths and weaknesses. While we are in the era of the SpaceX “steamroller� much of their core spirit has not changed (they still have the “founders mentality� as Berger puts it). Which means understanding their past experience can do a lot to help us understand what comes next - and for those of us whose own work is intertwined with SpaceX’s, inform our own communication with a very important partner.
After reading the epilogue I feel a little better about Berger’s bias when it comes to his reporting on SpaceX. While he’s clearly a SpaceX fan he also admits to it and shares many of the same reservations about the state of the industry that I do. As with his writing for Ars Technica, the writing is honest and accurate but still tinged with his personal feelings and excitement with the events. I’m not used to so many “I� statements from an author in a non fiction book where the author is not at the center of events, but they are there.
The heart and soul of this book and what makes it a necessary read for anyone interested in American spaceflight today is the stories from the employees themselves. Berger tells dozens of essential tales from Hawthorne, McGregor, Starbase, and the Cape from the employees that make spaceflight magic happen. Even as an avid space news follower, many of the stories included in the book were new to me. It was fun to hear what was happening behind the scenes during years that I was on the NASA side of the fence on these programs, hoping for SpaceX to succeed but also worried about their safety approach.
I would say that Reentry’s most important achievement is putting SpaceX into the context of their strengths and weaknesses. While we are in the era of the SpaceX “steamroller� much of their core spirit has not changed (they still have the “founders mentality� as Berger puts it). Which means understanding their past experience can do a lot to help us understand what comes next - and for those of us whose own work is intertwined with SpaceX’s, inform our own communication with a very important partner.
January 22, 2025
Having read "Liftoff" two years ago, I found "Reentry" to be a compelling continuation, akin to a second season chronicling SpaceX's pivotal role in the new age of space flight. The timing of my reading coincided with a recent incident involving the Starship, an event that could easily serve as a dramatic plot point in what might be considered the third season of this ongoing saga.
"Reentry" delves into the immense challenges faced by SpaceX on its ambitious journey to Mars. Berger masterfully captures the essence of this endeavor, making the narrative both engaging and informative. The book highlights the relentless efforts of the SpaceX team, showcasing their dedication and the sacrifices made in pursuit of groundbreaking advancements in space travel. It emphasizes that this is not merely a corporate venture but a mission driven by a profound vision for humanity's future.
The storytelling in "Reentry" is non-linear, which may initially be disorienting for some readers. However, this approach effectively mirrors the complexity of SpaceX's journey, weaving together various threads that span different timelines and milestones. Berger's ability to convey tension and urgency throughout the narrative keeps readers on the edge of their seats as they witness SpaceX's triumphs and setbacks.
Overall, "Reentry" is a captivating exploration of SpaceX's evolution and its impact on modern space exploration. It serves as both a sequel to "Liftoff" and a standalone account that sheds light on the intricate dynamics within one of the most innovative companies of our time. For anyone interested in spaceflight or the remarkable story of SpaceX, this book is an essential read that offers insight into both the technical achievements and human stories behind them.
"Reentry" delves into the immense challenges faced by SpaceX on its ambitious journey to Mars. Berger masterfully captures the essence of this endeavor, making the narrative both engaging and informative. The book highlights the relentless efforts of the SpaceX team, showcasing their dedication and the sacrifices made in pursuit of groundbreaking advancements in space travel. It emphasizes that this is not merely a corporate venture but a mission driven by a profound vision for humanity's future.
The storytelling in "Reentry" is non-linear, which may initially be disorienting for some readers. However, this approach effectively mirrors the complexity of SpaceX's journey, weaving together various threads that span different timelines and milestones. Berger's ability to convey tension and urgency throughout the narrative keeps readers on the edge of their seats as they witness SpaceX's triumphs and setbacks.
Overall, "Reentry" is a captivating exploration of SpaceX's evolution and its impact on modern space exploration. It serves as both a sequel to "Liftoff" and a standalone account that sheds light on the intricate dynamics within one of the most innovative companies of our time. For anyone interested in spaceflight or the remarkable story of SpaceX, this book is an essential read that offers insight into both the technical achievements and human stories behind them.
September 6, 2024
Elon Musk. The name itself invokes passionate feelings amongst people. Egotistical, mad, sexist, juvenile, driven, these are just a few of the terms one could use to describe him, and be perfectly accurate. However, I do love space exploration, and like it or not, Musk is the leader in pushing us forward in the area.
This book describes the history of his company, SpaceX. It's quite fascinating, actually, how far they have come so fast. They have pushed aside the other space companies, and pushed NASA into a faster and more streamlined approach to space travel. They have repeatedly delivered to the ISS, saving the United States the money (and pride) of having to rely on Russia for "hitching a ride". They have deployed thousands of their Starlink satellites, bringing the internet to millions.
BUT....would I ever want to work for him? Not a chance in heck! He demands his people work 7 days a week, 12-16 hours (or longer) shifts, accepts no excuses, and no delays. The employees might as well become Navy Seals, there are probably less hours expected! But, to be honest, if one wants to make their mark in the field, he's really the only game in town. Young people, with loads of energy and intelligence, can really gain invaluable experience working for him. Then maybe in the future, form their own companies.
The book is enlightening. It's told from the viewpoint of many employees. It's engaging and not demanding of any "genius level" thinking. It's just a good book!
I don't like the man, his politics, or his methods, but I have to give him respect for the company he has created.
This book describes the history of his company, SpaceX. It's quite fascinating, actually, how far they have come so fast. They have pushed aside the other space companies, and pushed NASA into a faster and more streamlined approach to space travel. They have repeatedly delivered to the ISS, saving the United States the money (and pride) of having to rely on Russia for "hitching a ride". They have deployed thousands of their Starlink satellites, bringing the internet to millions.
BUT....would I ever want to work for him? Not a chance in heck! He demands his people work 7 days a week, 12-16 hours (or longer) shifts, accepts no excuses, and no delays. The employees might as well become Navy Seals, there are probably less hours expected! But, to be honest, if one wants to make their mark in the field, he's really the only game in town. Young people, with loads of energy and intelligence, can really gain invaluable experience working for him. Then maybe in the future, form their own companies.
The book is enlightening. It's told from the viewpoint of many employees. It's engaging and not demanding of any "genius level" thinking. It's just a good book!
I don't like the man, his politics, or his methods, but I have to give him respect for the company he has created.
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