*An instant New York Times Bestseller*''One of the most exciting tales of our time... It''s the next tech frontier, and Vance turns it into a thriller'' Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs''Eloquent, expertly reported'' Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store_______________A momentous look at the private companies driving the revolutionary new space race, from the 3-million copy, New York Times bestselling author of Elon MuskIn 2008, Elon Musk''s SpaceX became the first private company to build a low-cost rocket that could reach orbitSuddenly Silicon Valley, not NASA, was the epicentre of the new Space Age.Ashlee Vance follows four pioneering companies - Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs and Rocket Lab - as they race to control access to outer space. While the space tourism ambitions of billionaires such as Bezos and Branson make headlines, these under-the-radar companies are striving to monetise Earth''s lower orbit; to connect, analyse and monitor everything on Earth.With unprecedente