Privatizing Space - An Illustrated History of The Quest to Affordable and Profitable Spaceflight

This book is a fast-paced account supported by striking, compelling renderings of how spaceflight has been forever changed since NASA heralded the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program on January 18th, 2006. Spaceflight was once a clunky affair, ruled by inefficient cost-plus models that gravely hampered the rapid pace of innovation while extorting a tremendous ransom to the taxpayers.
In a single volume, you will embark on a thrilling journey of how major and lesser-known launcher and spacecraft manufacturers have devoted their resources to bring forward a vision of profit by rapid innovation offering transportation services from LEO through cis-lunar space and beyond Earth s sphere of influence. This book recognizes NASA's COTS program as a pivot point in the history of the space agency and worldwide space industry and charts two story arcs, before COTS (BC) and after COTS (AC). The reader will understand how much the space industry has benefitted from the introduction of COTS in the pursuit of making humankind a spacefaring civilization.
This book will feature numerous stunning, original illustrations, cross sections, close-up views and many more, meticulously crafted by renowned space artist Giuseppe De Chiara. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words and these stunning images will capture the reader offering an exclusive intellectual experience.

List of contents

Chapter 1: The Forerunners.- Chapter 2: In The Middle Of Nowhere.- Chapter 3: Close But Not Cigar: The Quest For A Suborbital Spaceplane.- Chapter 4: The New Space Era Begins: The Heavy Weight Players.- Chapter 5: The New Space Era: The Competition Heightens.- Chapter 6: Realtors in Space.- Chapter 7: Destination Moon.- Chapter 8: The Solar System is the Limit.

Product details

• Authors: Giuseppe De Chiara, Davide Sivolella
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 10.09.2025
• EAN: 9783031894138
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3189413-8
• No. of pages: 350
• Illustrations: Approx. 350 p. 250 illus., 150 illus. in color.
• Series: Springer Praxis Books; Space Exploration
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Astronomy; Physik, Gesellschaft und Kultur, allgemein, Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Astronomie, Raum und Zeit, Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik, Astronautik (Raumfahrttechnik), Astronomy, Cosmology and Space Sciences, Aerospace Technology and Astronautics, Space Exploration and Astronautics, History of Physics and Astronomy, Space Studies, Historic Spacecraft, Spacecraft Illustrations, Illustrated Space Exploration, The Private Space Industry, Illustrated Space History, Spacecraft Cross-Sections