Innovation Awards 2017

Bayer Supreme New Zealand Innovation,
Innovation in Design & Engineering
ROCKET LAB
I
t’s about as sci-fi as any
innovation can get: 3D-printed,
battery-powered rockets, taking
off dozens of times a year to head to
the stars.
It sounds more Thunderbirds than
reality. But it's happening right here
– and we can thank Aotearoa’s own
Rocket Lab for that.
As founder and CEO Peter Beck
told Idealog: “If the best place in the
world to launch rockets was in the
middle of a desert, that’s where I’d
be – it’s that simple. But it turns out
that launching satellites into space is
best done from right here, in
New Zealand.”
To say Rocket Lab has captured
the world’s imagination would be
as much of an understatement as
saying the All Blacks are an okay
rugby team. Name the worldwide
media outlet, and odds are they’ve
done stories on what the company
– which has major operations
in New Zealand and the United
States – is doing, and Beck’s vision
of “democratising” space. Pretty
impressive for a rocket-loving lad
from Invercargill (in 2000, with
help from his colleagues at Fisher
& Paykel, he built a rocket-powered
bicycle that he demonstrated to the
bemused public with a 140kph blast
down Dunedin’s Princes Street).
As Rocket Lab describes it:
“Rocket Lab is opening access
to space by providing dedicated,
frequent launch opportunities for the
small satellite industry. The Electron launch vehicle showcases innovative,
ground-breaking technology which can deliver small satellites (up to 150
kg) to orbit at an unprecedented frequency.”
But that’s not all.
“Currently, small satellite companies wait years to get on orbit, often
at the mercy and schedules of larger payloads. In the current market,
small satellites need to ride as a secondary payload on large rockets,
which often do not go to their perfect orbit, and changes are often made
in favour of the much larger primary payloads. A major problem is launch
frequency, and access to space, as well as the high cost associated with
getting there.”
In 2016, the United States went to space a total of 21 times and the
average cost of a dedicated mission was US$150 million. And Rocket
Lab aims to open space up for business “with world first frequency of
flight, launching once per week, with dedicated launches from US$5.6
million. The small satellite industry is booming, as technology becomes
more efficient and compact, and there is a huge demand for Rocket Lab's
services.”
So of all the things Beck could have focused on, why space? He has a
simple answer.
“Why space? This is one of those things that captures the imagination,
but one that’s ripe for disruption. What we’re trying to do is democratise
space.”
And to do that, Rocket Lab wants to send its rockets up towards the
stars – a lot.
“We’re licenced to launch every 72 hours for the next 30 years,”
says Beck.
In fact, Rocket Lab is authorised to launch more often than any other
company on Earth. Conceivably, this could mean that its launch site at
Mahia Peninsula on the east coast of the North Island could one day
become the busiest spaceport in the world.
No matter how you slice it, that’s pretty incredible. But Beck is not one
to self-congratulate. Going to space – no matter who it is – is incredibly
important because even in the second decade of the 21st century, it
remains so rare, he says.
Helping Rocket Lab get into space is the Electron Launch Vehicle, a
rocket that Beck calls Rocket Lab’s single greatest success thus far. Beck
is matter-of-fact when explaining its incredible properties.
“It’s the most powerful machine ever built in New Zealand – over a
"Why space? This is one of those things that captures the imagination,
2 / Innovation Awards