The Atlantic ’s November Cover: Josh Tyrangiel Profiles Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on Their Race to Control Outer Space—And Measures Who Is Ahead

In The Atlantic’s November cover story, “Choose Your Overlord,” staff writer Josh Tyrangiel profiles Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who are in a race to control outer space. Tyrangiel writes that together, in fierce competition, “these two billionaires are in the early stages of a race to vertically integrate the galaxy—a process that involves rockets, moon landings, enormous satellite constellations, and space-based data centers running AI models fueled by computing power that no terrestrial supplier can match. Both say they hope to preserve human life from the specter of climate change and expand mankind’s understanding of the universe. Both would also like to dominate a market that, unlike every other market they’ve previously conquered, has no ceiling and few established rules.”

For most of human history, Tyrangiel writes, “the power to decide where a civilization went next belonged to governments, monarchs, or despots. It’s a measure of how much has changed that a retail executive from Seattle and a South African–born engineer are well positioned to exercise that power. Nobody voted for either of them. And they may be the only ones who can check the other’s power.”

But as Tyrangiel writes, one of them clearly has the upper hand. In 2025, Musk’s SpaceX launched 83 percent of the mass sent into orbit—about 10 times more than its nearest competitor, the Chinese government. His satellite company, Starlink, has 11,000-plus satellites, accounting for roughly two-thirds of all active spacecraft orbiting Earth.

Tyrangiel points out that America “needing Bezos’s extraordinary concentration of private power to mitigate Musk’s extraordinary concentration of private power is probably not what the Founders had in mind.” When Tyrangiel asked Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, whether he trusted either man completely, Kelly replied, “Kind of a loaded question.” Kelly, Tyrangiel reports, says he wants SpaceX to “continue to be a successful company because it is in our national-security interest that that’s the case. I also want to see Blue Origin be successful.” Tyrangiel writes: “The pragmatist’s position, shared by most of the national-security community, is that one company capable of getting you to space is better than none, and two is better than one. But even if Bezos is the less mercurial billionaire, Blue Origin is not yet a reliable substitute for SpaceX. So the government can’t use Blue Origin as leverage.”

The government is not negotiating from a position of strength, but Tyrangiel writes, “Bezos and Musk have a shared vulnerability: Both say they would like to go to the moon—for their empires, for glory, and because their youthful love of space has never settled into something more rational. To put it in terms they and the president would all understand, the moon is leverage.” And in their race to the moon, Tyrangiel writes, “most people I spoke with have reached the same conclusion: On this, Blue Origin is ahead. It has completed thermal-vacuum testing on Blue Moon, and, as of August, its structure, propulsion, and avionics were fully assembled; it’s already communicating with NASA’s satellites and deep-space network … The crux of the difference is that Blue Origin—the smaller, slower company in need of a win—seems to have built a product to fit the brief, while Musk has built a giant rocket designed for his satellite business and his personal goal of deep-space travel to Mars. Making Starship work for the moon is like adapting a cargo ship to win a yacht race.”

Josh Tyrangiel’s “Choose Your Overlord” was published today at TheAtlantic.com. Please reach out with any questions or requests.

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