Escaping Gravity

Former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver recounts how she took on the greed and corrupt politics of the US space program, inciting the expansion of space exploration into the private sector and paving the way for “space pirates” like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk. When she rose to second-in-command at NASA, Lori Garver was determined to do more than just break a glass ceiling. She set out to break the self-interested system of government-controlled space exploration run by Congress, the aerospace industry, entrenched bureaucrats, and hero-astronauts trying to protect their own profits and mythology. In Space Pirates, Garver recounts her fight for change from inside the space agency and how it put her in the crosshairs of established interests who viewed her as a threat to the trillion-dollar government contracting system that has centralized power in the United States since World War II. Garver’s hard-won victories paved the way for a new era of transcendental change at NASA in collaboration with her “space pirates”— Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson. Working to unleash the potential of these visionaries, Garver pried spaceflight from the tight grip and the aerospace/military industrial complex and helped create a more peaceful, inclusive, and meaningful space age. Including previously unpublished conversations and insights on the epic battles that have transitioned space access to private interests for a fraction of the cost of previous NASA programs, Space Pirates offers a blueprint for how to drive productive and meaningful government change.