# Liftoff by Eric Berger

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Liftoff by Eric Berger and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend Liftoff for explaining the early history of SpaceX and the reasons behind its decisions, often read alongside its sequel Reentry. No critical comments were recorded.

## Why people recommend it

- Explains the reasons behind SpaceX decisions (1 comments): "If you want to know the why’s I suggest reading Eric Berger’s two books Liftoff and Reentry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48833092))
- Read together with sequel Reentry (2 comments): "If you want to know the why’s I suggest reading Eric Berger’s two books Liftoff and Reentry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48833092)) "you can also read liftoff and re-entry by eric berger" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49764748))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Liftoff+Elon+Musk+and+the+Desperate+Early+Days+That+Launched+SpaceX+Eric+Berger&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Liftoff by Eric Berger", https://hackerapproved.com/p/liftoff/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).