Rocket Lab launches $10k scholarship

Women in space: Applications are open for the $10,000 Rocket Lab Women's Scholarship. Picture supplied

Space company Rocket Lab this week launched a $10,000 scholarship to support women and gender minorities to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The scholarship is open to all students who identify as female or non-binary who will be pursuing a tertiary qualification in STEM subject areas relevant to aerospace.

The Rocket Lab Women's Scholarship offers one candidate $10,000 across up to four years of study to be used towards fees and/or course-related costs.

Candidates will be assessed across a range of suitability criteria, including financial hardship, community engagement, aspirations and academic resilience.

The scholarship joins the existing Rocket Lab Scholarship, now in its sixth year, which provides tertiary funding to students who whakapapa to or have a strong connection with the Mahia and Wairoa communities where Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site is located.

“We know we've got a way to go before our industry reflects the diversity and experiences of wider society and we want to offer practical solutions instead of just talking about it,” Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Peter Beck said.

“The Rocket Lab Scholarship was developed to foster a diverse talent pool of next-generation innovators and now the Women's Scholarship is specifically targeted at supporting more women to build fulfilling careers in space.”

Rocket Lab education lead Felicity Powell said addressing the lack of diversity in aerospace was a complex challenge that required equity-centred interventions from multiple angles.

“We've designed our education programmes with their long-term sustainability and impact in mind,” Powell said.

“We want to know that we're inspiring students to pursue careers in aerospace. We have also paved the way for them to launch into them.”

• Applications are open for both scholarships and close on November 17. To apply, students should go to: