In 2008, Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first private company to build a low-cost rocket that could reach orbit. Suddenly Silicon Valley, not NASA, was the epicentre of the new Space Age. Start-ups and investors began to realise that the heavens – ungoverned and unregulated – were open for business. ‘When the Heavens Went on Sale’ tells the remarkable, unfolding story of this frenzied race to control access to outer space. Ashlee Vance follows four pioneering companies – Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs and Rocket Lab – as they attempt to launch thousands of low-cost rockets and satellites into orbit. 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.