"Missile Gap" is a 2006 English language science fiction novella, originally published in the anthology One Million A.D.[1] by British author Charles Stross.

[1] On 2 October 1962, the universe underwent a change – instantly, the continents of the Earth were no longer wrapped onto a spherical planet but were on the surface of an Alderson disk.

Yuri Gagarin captains a huge, nuclear-powered Ekranoplan on behalf of the Soviets, whilst the US launch cruise liners filled with colonists for exotic new continents beyond the boundaries of the old Earth.

During his travels, Gagarin turns up further examples of other "Earths" far away from the currently inhabited areas, with cities that have clearly been destroyed in nuclear war in the distant past.

To explain plot sections and provide background information, Stross makes use of themes that recur in his works – the use of security clearance briefings, and codewords to imply secret levels of information – COLLECTION and RUBY for Missile Gap Publishers Weekly described the novella as a "blend of 1900s H. G. Wells and 1970s propaganda, updated for the 21st century in the clear, chilly and fashionably cynical style that lets Stross get away with premises that would be absurdly cheesy in anyone else's hands.