The Launch Of Rocket Lab

The incredible story of Rocket Lab and its founder Sir Peter Beck. From a young age New Zealander Sir Peter Beck had his mind set on one thing: space. And as he tinkered with motorbikes in his parents’ garage as a teenager, he was quietly forming a plan-a plan that would eventuate into the establishment of one of the most dynamic and influential aerospace manufacturers the world has ever seen.

The Launch of Rocket Lab traces Rocket Lab’s extraordinary journey from fledgling start-up to international powerhouse competing against two of the world’s richest men in the global space race.

From the early days raising venture capital to the successful launch of the first Electron small orbital launch vehicle-which transformed the way we see and access space-to the company’s expansion across the US, going public on the stock exchange, and its countless partnerships with major organisations including the DARPA, the Space Test Program, United States Air Force Space Command, and NASA.

Now the fastest company to launch 50 rockets into space, with a market cap of US$13.63 billion, a mission to Mars in production, and plans to reach Venus in the foreseeable future, Rocket Lab has long outgrown its humble beginnings and far surpassed international expectations. A story of of innovation, dedication, teamwork, and brilliance, spanning the rocky shores of coastal New Zealand to the warmth of California, Florida, and the darkness of space itself, The Launch of Rocket Lab documents the company’s past as it looks to a future of unlimited possibility.

Author Biography

Peter Griffin is a science, technology, and business journalist with more than 20 years of experience in the media. His work has been featured in the New Zealand Herald, The Listener, Stuff, BusinessDesk, and more, and he has appeared numerous times on Radio New Zealand and Newstalk ZB as a tech commentatory. He founded the Science Media Center in Wellington, New Zealand to increase public understanding of local research, science, and innovation, which he ran from 2008 to 2018. He is cohost of BusinessDesk’s podcast The Business of Tech.

Sir Peter Beck is the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, a company that designs, builds, and launches advanced rockets and satellites. A self-taught engineer who grew up in a middle-class family and never went to university, Beck founded Rocket Lab in 2006 at the age of 29. His vision was to develop rockets specifically dedicated to launching small satellites. Today, Rocket Lab is a global leader in aerospace, manufacturing one of the world’s most-launched rockets and employing over 2000 people.