Got right stuff? Rocket Lab wants you

Peter Beck says Rocket Lab pays international rates. Photo / Richard Robinson

Rocket scientists are in hot demand in New Zealand. Auckland-based Rocket Lab says it has about 35 jobs to fill and founder and chief executive Peter Beck said it had struggled to find staff for some time.

"This year is really hard - we're shooting for our first flight at the end of the year and that is directly determined by finding the people to execute it," he said.

Rocket Lab is developing an 18 metre tall unmanned rocket to carry satellites into space for a fraction of the cost as those aboard much bigger launch vehicles overseas.

It has around 30 staff in Auckland where the rocket is being built and has just opened an office in Los Angeles.

Beck said there was a fulltime recruiter on board and word-of-mouth referrals were strong, but given the range of jobs in the start-up, filling vacancies was especially difficult.

Rocket Lab not only needed rocket builders but also crew to develop a launch pad that would need to be built.

"Building a rocket is like building an aircraft - there's a lot of qualification that goes into all the different parts," he said.

The company had hired from around the world and although there were no aerospace degrees taught in this country Kiwi engineers had proved adaptable. Beck would not discuss pay on offer, saying only that Rocket Lab had to pay international rates to attract the right talent.

He said the company was close to finalising a launch site for the Electron rocket after appealing for communities with suitable relatively remote sites to come forward.

Transporting a satellite aboard the carbon-composite rocket would have an estimated cost of US$5 million ($6.4 million) compared with the average of US$133 million.

Situations vacant
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