"Space Commerce" relates the story of private enterprise's unsteady rise to prominence as a major influence on world space policy and research. The first space race proved the technological and military prowess of the two superpowers; but since the 1970s that contest has been supplanted by a multinational struggle to command the commercial opportunities of space.

The commercial space age was born in 1965 when Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite, went into orbit. With characteristic ingenuity, American industrialists began to dream of garnering billions of dollars per year from space-based products and services. In the microgravity of space, they hoped, hitherto unavailable drugs could be produced that would revolutionize medicine; in the high vacuum of space, crystals of extreme purity could be grown in orbital laboratories, both for biological research and for application in the manufacture of advanced microcircuits.

In this book John McLucas covers the broad sweep of space commerce, both the vision and the reality: the construction of communications satellites and their ground control stations; the sale and leasing of communications services; remote sensing and measurement of earth's processes; navigation by satellites, serving ships, airplanes, and automobiles; the design and deployment of space laboratories for scientific research and product development; and life science experiments to determine the effects of space habitation on humans.

Drawing on his considerable expertise, McLucas brings a sober perspective to his assessment of the technological accomplishments as well as the challenges still faced by industry in space. He incorporates into his discussion an illuminating analysis of the economic and political impact of space commerce and its rapidly changing international character.

In documenting his wide-ranging career in science and technology, Dr. McLucas offers new information and insights on the history of key private-sector and government agencies during the Cold War era-most prominently, the US Air Force. After naval service in World War II, he began a long affiliation with the Air Force as a civilian engineer and Air National Guard officer. He continued this affiliation as president of both a pioneering high-tech company and the Air Force-sponsored MITRE Corporation. He also worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and became NATO's top scientific officer. His contributions to the Air Force culminated with service as its undersecretary and secretary in the challenging and transforming period from 1969 through 1975, during which time he also directed the national Reconnaissance Office. Dr. McLucas's insider's account of those years divulges details about Pentagon politics, coping with the Vietnam War, developing new aircraft and other systems, and expanding equal opportunities for minorities and women. After next heading the Federal Aviation Administration, he became an executive in the Communications Satellite Corporation. Following retirement, he remained an active and influential proponent of science and technology, especially in space. The coauthors completed this book after Dr. McLucas's death in December 2002.