"All the trajectory of my career was to enable me to learn more, or provide resources to ultimately build bigger and better rockets."īeck started off as a toolmaking apprentice at Fisher & Paykel, a role that enabled him to tinker away in the company's workshop after hours. That aim-high ethos, combined with a fascination with rocket technology, has proven a powerful combination. So that was always just what life was supposed to be about, I guess." It was dad flying all around the world doing all these cool and amazing things. "As a father figure growing up, it wasn't dad goes to work, dad comes home from work. He also made his mark, and travelled extensively, as a world-renowned authority in nephrite jade, and an accomplished jade carver and sculptor.
His father, long-serving Southland Museum and Art Gallery director Russell Beck, was a major influence.īeck Sr, a qualified gemologist, retired in 1999 after 23 years heading up the museum. I was always taught to work hard and go and achieve big things." "Not only that, there was a certain practical and pragmatic ethos instilled throughout my childhood. He says engineering runs in the family "as far back as you can go". "īeck developed a love of powerful engines as a teenager, pulling apart, rebuilding and super-charging an old Mini. "In fact, one of the issues we have here is trying to get enough qualified folks. "I take great pride in the fact that now a space career in New Zealand is a very tangible career," Beck says, with perhaps the slightest I-told-you-so tone in his voice. So what would Beck say to that sceptical careers adviser if he ran into him today? There is still a way to go before Rocket Lab proves itself as a successful commercial operation, but given its current flight path, Beck has a lot to be optimistic about.īeck's success in building Rocket Lab was recently described by Prime Minister Bill English as "an amazing achievement for a boy from Invercargill". * Law could stop you taking photos if a rocket crashes * Peter Beck wins entrepreneur of the year * Rocket Lab readies for launch from Mahia * Peter Beck makes it to World Entrepreneur Hall of Fame "I remember the careers adviser commenting that it was just absurdly unachievable." Sure, he's since gone on to become the public face of New Zealand's nascent space industry by building a start-up satellite launching company that employs about 200 staff, but in his teenage years, Beck's aspirations were considered "a little bit nutty". "In fact," the now 40-year-old chief executive of Rocket Lab says, "my parents were called into a meeting with the careers counsellor because my description of what I wanted to do with my career didn't fit any pre-defined boxes." Raja Is Clear.": Rahul Gandhi Slams Sanjay Raut's Arrest" title=""Message Of Raja Is Clear.Rocket Lab successfully launches its first test rocket.Īs a kid, Peter Beck wanted to build rockets when he grew up.
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