Orbital

Published in 2023, Orbital is a literary novel by British author Samantha Harvey. The novel spans 24 hours in the lives of six astronauts and cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station. Harvey uses their thoughts and experiences to frame discussions on climate change, humanity’s place in the universe, and the inevitable end of all material reality.

Harvey drew inspiration from a live stream of the International Space Station, which she watched continuously to inform her writing about life in space. Her immersive style that centers interior experience and philosophical implication allows her to talk about the Earth and space in ways that haven’t been covered in astronaut journals before. Orbital won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2024, as well as the Hawthornden Prize. The novel likewise appeared on the shortlists of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize and the Orwell Prize in the same year.

This guide refers to the first paperback edition published by Grove Press in 2024.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss the death of a loved one and mention the Challenger explosion and the bombing of Nagasaki.

Plot Summary

The novel is framed as one day in the lives of the present crew on the International Space Station. Because the station completes one orbit every 90 minutes, the novel covers a total of 16 orbits to represent a 24-hour period. The novel is set on the precipice of two major events: the formation of a westward-moving super-typhoon over the Pacific Ocean and the landing of a new lunar mission, which promises to mark the next era in scientific space travel.

The space station is home to four astronauts and two Russian cosmonauts. The astronauts hail from the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan. 

The Japanese astronaut, Chie, is grieving the loss of her mother, who recently died. Because the astronauts are committed to a nine-month mission in space, she will be unable to attend her mother’s funeral. 

Shaun, the American astronaut, is tasked with commenting on the lunar mission for a news editorial. He struggles to find the words for his response, navigating the implications that the moon landing will have for their work in orbit. He simultaneously tries to reflect on the meaning of the Velázquez painting Las Meninas, which is the image on a postcard from his wife, a memento of the early days of their relationship.

Shaun’s thoughts of lunar travel are mirrored by one of the cosmonauts, Anton, who aspires to go to the moon. However, Anton worries that his career, as well as his marriage, may soon be over following the appearance of a lump on his neck. The other cosmonaut, Roman, tries to remedy feelings of isolation in space by operating a packet radio to talk to people on Earth.

The typhoon that forms over the Pacific threatens destructive impact on several countries in Southeast Asia, namely the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The Italian astronaut, Pietro, worries over the fate of his friend, a fisherman who lives on the eastern Philippine island of Samar.

The British astronaut, Nell, shares Roman’s feelings of being trapped in the station. She uses her spacewalks with Pietro to remind herself of freediving and reorient herself against the terrors of space.

The six crew members have learned to look past the national borders and the politics of their respective companies. They nevertheless resign themselves to the insignificance of their mission in the shadow of the impending moon landing.

Pietro, who has grown cynical of the motivations of the billionaires who steer the direction of the space program, answers Shaun’s reflections on Las Meninas by suggesting that the true subject of the painting is the dog, who is free from the desire to draw attention to itself. Chie concludes that being in space is the only way she can honor the miracle of her and her mother’s life.

The day ends with the six of them going to sleep, dreaming of their ambitions and memories. The typhoon makes landfall, and the lunar mission crew enters the moon’s orbit.