Sir Hugo Drax is a multimillionaire tycoon and war hero, revered by the British public for his new Moonraker missile defense system. But there's more to this enigmatic millionaire than he lets on. When M suspects Drax of cheating at cards, he is baffled that the patriot would risk his reputation and his rocket program on a game, so he assigns Bond to infiltrate Drax's circle.

As 007 probes the activities at the Moonraker base in the days leading up to the beloved rocket's maiden launch, he learns the truth about Drax's battle scars, his wartime allegiances--and his murderous plans for the deployment of Moonraker.