The book contains a story of space exploration, from the economical viewpoint. This contains much novelty, since most other books on the history of astronautics touch on the economic aspects only marginally. The author is very well qualified and his writing is quite involving. A very strong point is the fact that is much open to the future, dealing not only with Mars exploration but also with the exploration of extrasolar planets, while most of the works dealing with space economy usually stop to LEO commercialization and the most advanced topics they deal with is related to the Moon or the asteroids.

I find the book quite innovative and interesting. It can be used for postgraduate courses in space economy.

Professor Giancarlo Genta,

Director of the Aerospace Department at the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy

Andrea Sommariva's book on the Political Economy of the Space Age is, first of all, a thoroughly researched account of the history and evolution of a field of theoretical and practical engagement which will shape the future of Human Society, as the title rightly states.

It provides the basis to understand better an area of scientific and technological research as well as of economic initiatives which are receiving growing interest both at the academic and at the practical level, and which will inevitably see a booming of its importance in the coming years. Even more than in similar breakthrough cases, those who engage in the related activities will benefit from a considerable advantage in tackling the economic challenges of the coming years.

At the same time, this book provides, through a fascinating reading, the possibility to jump into the (near) future and to imagine feasible solutions to many of the problems (e.g. for some natural resources) that today look very difficult to cope with.

Professor Carlo Secchi,

Emeritus professor Policy Analysis and Public Management, Bocconi University, Italy;

Vice president of ISPI (Institute for the Studies of International Politics), Italy