Peter Beck

Founder of Rocket Lab

This week John's guest will be Peter Beck. Peter is a Kiwi entrepreneur who founded the aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider Rocket Lab. 

Peter grew up in Invercargill, born into a family who loved machines. A toolmaking apprenticeship at Fisher & Paykel gave him hands-on engineering skills and access to top-of-the-line machinery and materials after hours.

Peter began building rockets at an early age, steadily increasing their size and complexity. He set up Rocket Lab in 2006 and has taken the world by storm.

An award-winning engineer, Peter has been presented with the Gold Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Meritorious Medal from the New Zealand Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Cooper Medal and the Pickering Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand. In addition, in recognition of Mr Beck’s outstanding contributions to aerospace, entrepreneurship and technical innovation he was appointed as an adjunct professor in aerospace engineering by the University of Auckland.

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