Speaking with the NZ Herald's Chris Keall, Peter Beck talks about Rocket Lab's growth strategies, and explains why New Zealand will remain central to the company.
Rocket Lab's second commercial payload has launched from its launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula.
The mission will put 13 tiny satellites into low-Earth orbit for Nasa, and will be the first time the US government agency booked out a private rocket to get cubesats into space.
The company attemptedto get a rocket away on Thursday but the attempt was thwarted by bad weather.
All payloads deployed for today's @NASA#ELaNa19 launch! Thank you to all the dedicated teams who built the CubeSats on today's mission. It was an honor to take you to space. 🚀#VentureClass#ThisOnesForPickering
We gave this rocket a very special name. It was called 'This One's For Pickering', after NZ-born scientist and former head of @NASAJPL, Sir William Pickering. Members of Sir William's family joined us outside Mission Control today for launch. A true privilege to have them here. pic.twitter.com/IKqUGGgoRj
And its newly-opened Auckland plant has the capacity to support a launch-a-week by 2020 goal. Ultimately, Beck wants 130 launches a year.
The industry is attracting more and more investors. Rocket Lab recently raised another US$140m at a US$1billion+ valuation (with ACC and Sir Stephen Tindall chipping in) as founder Peter Beck talked about his company grabbing a good share of more than 2600 satellite launches planned over the next four years.
But Rocket Lab's latest flight also comes on the same week that US airlines warn a growing number of launches is causing problems in already overcrowded skies.
The easern seaboard of the US might be teemng with aircraft, but Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 on NZ's east coast is surrounded by empty airspace. Photo / Supplied.
Space X's Falcon Heavy launch in Florida in February, for example, caused delays to 61 flights, and many others to take longer routes during its three-hour launch window.
Sunday looks like a great day to go to orbit. Patience and diligence always wins in this business. https://t.co/ngl6WYihzz
All up, 1400 flights have been affected by spacecraft launches this year. The US Federal Aviation Commission often shuts down airspace for hours, even though a rocket takes only 90 seconds to reach space.
That number has to be put into perspective. It's dwarfed by the number of flights affected by weather and other factors. Orlando actually had more delays on the days on either side of the Falcon Heavy launch.
