It’s been six months since I interviewed Rocket Lab chief executive Sir Peter Beck. We have a lot to discuss following the space company’s Q1 earnings! Video / Cameron Pitney
Expected Nasa budget constraints and a likely “killing” of a Mars mission Rocket Lab had conceptualised is not putting Sir Peter Beck off reaching the red planet.
“Well, I don’t think anyone’s said they’ve fully cancelled it, but, if you’ve looked in the President’s budget, he’d said we’re not looking to do Mars Sample Return,” Beck told Markets with Madison.
The Trump administration’s proposed budget said it would end financially unsustainable programmes such as the Mars Sample Return mission, to instead refocus resource on putting an American astronaut on Mars, according to Nasa.
But Beck remained determined to pick up the samples from its surface.
“I don’t see rocks sitting on the surface, I see like Nobel Prizes sitting on the surface of that planet.
“If anything goes to Mars … Chances are it will have a Rocket Lab logo on it.”
Rocket Lab announced a slight slip in quarterly earnings this month, as it continued to make progress on its medium-lift Neutron rocket, set to launch for the first time later this year.
An artist's impression of Rocket Lab's Neutron rocket landing on a barge, which is named Return on Investment.
The company that designed, built and launched rockets and spacecraft from launch sites in New Zealand and the United States was experiencing increased demand from the US military, including Neutron becoming eligible for the US$5.6 billion ($9.5b) National Space Security Launch (NSSL) programme.
“Our national security projects and our national security division continue to grow and grow and grow,” Beck said.
“Also, everybody understands we live in a much more unstable world right now, and national security conversations are dinner-time conversations.”
Watch Sir Peter Beck discuss its defence applications, including hypersonic rockets, and see a part of the Neutron rocket up close in today’s episode of Markets with Madison above.
Get investment insights from executives and experts on Markets with Madison every Friday here on the NZ Herald, on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsored by CMC Markets.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this programme is of a general nature, and is not intended to be personalised financial advice. We encourage you to seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances.
Madison Malone (nee Reidy) is host and executive producer of the NZ Herald‘s investment show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment, and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.
It’s been six months since I interviewed Rocket Lab chief executive Sir Peter Beck. We have a lot to discuss following the space company’s Q1 earnings! Video / Cameron Pitney
