11 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American aerospace and defense company founded in 1916 — maker of the 737, 747, and 787 commercial jets and major defense contractor — which has been a SpaceX competitor for NASA's commercial crew and launch contracts.
American defense company built through acquisitions by John Jay Hopkins in the 1950s — which makes nuclear submarines (Electric Boat), Gulfstream business jets, M1 Abrams tanks, and Stryker armored vehicles — making it one of the most diversified major defense contractors.
John D. Clark's 1972 informal history of liquid rocket propellant development — combining technical chemistry with first-person accounts of explosions, near-misses, and the darkly comic experience of working with substances designed to be maximally energetic and minimally stable.
American chemist who spent his career developing liquid rocket propellants at Thiokol and NOTS — and whose Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants is considered the funniest and most readable book about a technically demanding subject ever written.
American executive who transformed General Dynamics into one of the largest defense companies in the United States — through a series of acquisitions including Convair, Electric Boat, and others — building one of the most diverse defense portfolios of the Cold War era.
Eric Berger's 2021 narrative account of SpaceX's first four Falcon 1 rocket launches — the do-or-die period from 2006 to 2008 when three consecutive failures nearly destroyed the company before a fourth successful launch saved it.
American aerospace and defense company — famous for the Skunk Works advanced development division that produced the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, and F-117 stealth fighter — which operated under Kelly Johnson's famous 14 rules of development: small team, direct access, minimal reporting.
United States government space agency founded in 1958 — which landed humans on the Moon, launched the Space Shuttle, built the International Space Station, and launched the Voyager probes — and which has been both SpaceX's primary customer and the institutional model SpaceX was built to outcompete on cost.
American aerospace manufacturer and launch provider founded by Elon Musk in 2002 — which reduced launch costs by 10x through reusable rockets, became NASA's primary commercial partner, and is developing the Starship for Mars colonization.
Tom DeLonge's public benefit corporation bringing together former military and intelligence officials to investigate UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) and advance aerospace research — a significant force behind the mainstream rehabilitation of UFO research.
American aircraft manufacturer that produced the B-24 Liberator bomber — the most-produced American military aircraft of WWII — before merging into Convair.