The rise and fall of the pioneer in private rocket launching
German aerospace engineer Lutz Kayser was the first to develop, as of the 1970s, a technology for the private launching of satellite-carrying rockets at relatively low cost. But the dreams of the Nazi nostalgist would fall to earth with a bump when he became caught up in the geopolitical realities of the Cold War amid his attempts to set up his operations with the help of two African dictators. His story is the subject of Projet Wotan, a book recently published in France by the journalist Joëlle Stolz.
JohnJohn Le Carré knew how to spot a good story. So it was of no surprise that the novelist and specialist of Cold War plots found inspiration in that of Lutz Kayser, whose unusual adventures had appeared in the press.
