The Launch of Rocket Lab

Somewhere between unlikely and impossible is where magic happens. This is where Rocket Lab was born. From a young age Sir Peter Beck had his mind set on one thing: space. And as he tinkered with motorbikes in his parents’ garage as a teenager, he was quietly forming a plan—a plan that would eventuate into the establishment of one of the most dynamic and influential aerospace manufacturers the world has ever seen. The Launch of Rocket Lab traces Rocket Lab’s extraordinary journey from fledgling start-up to international powerhouse competing against two of the world’s richest men in the global space race. Remarkable behind-the-scenes photographs and original interviews with Beck, his team, investors, and industry experts provide a thrilling insider account of each step in Rocket Lab’s path to success. From the early days raising venture capital to the successful launch of the first Electron small orbital launch vehicle—which transformed the way we see and access space—to the company’s expansion across the US, going public on the stock exchange, and its countless partnerships with major organizations including the DARPA, the Space Test Program, United States Air Force Space Command, and NASA. Now the fastest company to launch 50 rockets into space, with a market cap of US$13.63 billion, a mission to Mars in production, and plans to reach Venus in the foreseeable future, Rocket Lab has long outgrown its humble beginnings and far surpassed international expectations. A story of of innovation, dedication, teamwork, and brilliance, The Launch of Rocket Lab documents the company’s past as it looks to a future of unlimited possibility.

Sir Peter Beck is the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, a company that designs, builds, and launches advanced rockets and satellites. A self-taught engineer who grew up in a middle-class family and never went to university, Beck founded Rocket Lab in 2006 at the age of 29. His vision was to develop rockets specifically dedicated to launching small satellites, making it faster, easier, and more cost-effective to reach space, and thus enabling greater innovation, and exploration. Today, Rocket Lab is a global leader in aerospace, manufacturing one of the world’s most-launched rockets and employing over 2,000 highly skilled people. Peter Griffin is an award-winning journalist, podcaster and Fulbright-Harkness scholar who started out covering the dotcom crash in London, UK and has written about every new wave of technology since—rockets and satellites included. He lives in Wellington, New Zealand, where he studied creative writing at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters.