Launching a Longshot: Never give up on your dreams

Rocket Lab is a New Zealand spacecraft company founded in New Zealand that I wrote about several years ago. The founder, non-engineer but rocket fanboy Peter Beck, has been in the news lately for lots of reasons - some good, some bad.

The key takeway is that this maverick satellite-launching company is now worth US$23 billion. The stock price, while erratic lately, is up  over 800% in the past three years.

Click to read my 2017 column in the National Post on Peter Beck and his journey to building a 21st-century space company in the southern hemisphere.  

Highlights:

"Like many kids, Beck began experimenting with home-made rockets. He says he comes from a long line of engineers, and before that, blacksmiths. He experimented with engines and combustion chambers, created a rocket-powered bicycle that went 160 mph, and even built a rocket pack to propel him forward on a scooter. How fast was that? “Faster than I could control,” he says."

"On his flight back to New Zealand [from visiting NASA], Beck decided to create his own rocket-launching business — and even designed the space-age logo his company still uses. He believed his system could revolutionize satellite launches. More organizations would be able to launch weather satellites, observation cameras and sensors, or even provide Internet access from space. Once space became affordable, he knew it would spawn new services and entirely new industries."

"Beck worked for years without a salary. To stay afloat, Rocket Labs performed contract R&D on propulsion and guidance systems for the U.S. Defense Department’s advanced research agency and other international organizations. “That’s how we built our credibility and reputation,” he says, “so I could try to raise capital.” 

“My definition of success will be that space has become a domain no different than building infrastructure anywhere else,” says Beck. “The domain of the few will become a domain for the many.”

Never give up on your dreams.