In the lead-up to Rocket Lab’s 76th launch this week, Sir Peter Beck has opened up about the nerves and sleepless nights he suffers before every single mission.
The latest mission – dubbed ‘The Nation God Navigates’ - is set for take-off this Thursday from Mahia on the east coast of the North Island.
If everything goes to plan, it will see an Electron rocket deploy a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS into the low Earth orbit.
The rocket will travel 575km into orbit before deploying the satellite into space.
Beck - who is the founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab - told the Herald that the night before, and morning of, launches tend to be anything but smooth for him - he endures “terrible sleep” every time.
“I hate launch day,” he said.
“People are trusting you with sometimes their entire businesses - on the tip of the vehicle.”
Beck takes nothing for granted. “Even though we’ve done 73 [with Electron], I’m still very nervous, don’t sleep well the night before. And on launch day... I have never missed a launch... [I am] still very, very nervous.”
After ‘The Nation God Navigates’, six more missions for iQPS are scheduled so far for the rest of the year and 2026.
That’s because iQPS wants to build a constellation of 36 SAR satellites that will provide near real-time images of Earth every 10 minutes.
Beck said his nerves have nothing to do with Electron’s reliability. Rocket Lab is regarded as a reliable option in the private space industry, with a 100% success rate in its 15 missions to date this year.
But in Beck’s line of business, perfection is everything. Just one problem with even the tiniest component can lead to huge consequences.
Rocket Lab has suffered four Electron launch failures in its history.
In July 2020, a rocket failed to reach orbit and the problem was traced to a single anomalous electrical connection.
It led to an engine shutdown, a full review, and a statement from Rocket Lab: “The issue evaded pre-flight detection as the electrical connection remained secure during standard environment acceptance testing including vibration, thermal vacuum and thermal cycle tests”.
From Rocket Lab’s American base at Long Beach, Beck told the Herald “The consequences are always high, and a successful launch might garner a few tweets here and there.
“A failed launch is international news, and you [are] spread across CNN and NBC and all the news stations around the world.”
The remainder of 2025 promises to be a busy time for Beck and the crew at Rocket Lab.
As well as several other Electron missions scheduled, two Rocket Lab-constructed spacecraft are scheduled to be sent into Mars’ atmosphere.
The duo of probes are key components in a Nasa mission set to cost US$80 million ($138m), part of the American space agency’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) programme.
The craft will travel on a rocket constructed by Blue Origin - the private space company owned by one of the world’s richest men, Jeff Bezos – and be launched from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre.
Beck’s team designed and built the two spacecraft over a three-and-a-half-year period.
Beck says when they reach Mars’ orbit, it will mean 20% of all craft orbiting around Mars “will have a Rocket Lab logo on it... which is pretty cool”.
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.
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