SIT takes off with rocket launch

Author: Alana Dixon - Southland Times
Date posted: 02/12/09

A lifelong dream was realised on Monday for former Invercargill scientist and engineer Peter Beck, the brains behind New Zealand's first privately funded rocket launch.

The 6m-long, 60kg rocket was expected to reach an altitude of more than 100km, and fly at a speed of around 5000kmh.

It was a thrill to see it launch successfully, Mr Beck said.

"It was fantastic. Nothing could feel better."

The first-stage booster from the rocket was retrieved by a fisherman yesterday morning.

"That's a big thing - we didn't know if we'd ever find it, really."

The booster's fuel consumption and temperature levels would be analysed to provide important data about how the engine burnt after takeoff, Mr Beck said.

The rocket launch, the first of its kind in New Zealand, had several Southland connections.

Mr Beck, the chief executive and technical director of Rocket Lab, was born and raised in Invercargill. He left the city in 1995 aged 18 and moved to Dunedin to work at Fisher and Paykel. He had studied at James Hargest High School, where he was encouraged to develop his talents in science and engineering.

He founded the Rocket Lab company in 2006, after leaving a job at the Crown-owned Industrial Research. The move had "absolutely paid off now", he said.

Invercargill man Daniel Blain, a childhood friend of Mr Beck's, had also been involved, building the launch pad for the project. He was present at the launch at Great Mercury Island.

The Southern Institute of Technology had also supported the project, reaching a deal with Rocket Lab to advertise on the rocket.

SIT business services manager Bharat Guha said they had seized the opportunity to be involved with the project, approaching Rocket Lab two weeks before the launch. While Mr Guha declined to say how much SIT had paid to advertise on the Atea-1, Rocket Lab had given it a "very good deal", he said.

The rocket sported two 15cm by 10cm advertisements, and the launch pad featured a larger SIT logo.

Mr Guha was invited to watch the launch take place, and said Mr Beck was an exemplary Southlander. "He's an amazing gentleman. We think of Burt Munro, his focus and tenacity in achieving his goals, and Peter is like that too. He is very focused on achieving his goals," he said.

Mr Guha said he hoped Mr Beck would visit the campus some time next year.

Most of the rocket's funding came from Mark Rocket, who bought half the company shares in 2006. The remainder came from a $100,000 grant from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

Mr Beck said: "It's been nearly a decade and a half's work for me personally, so you can't really put a price on it. But it's fair to say it's the cheapest basic programme in the world."

Rocket Lab was in the planning stages of a second launch, which Mr Beck hoped would take place in February.

There had been a large amount of interest from around the world, and the success of the launch was an important technological step for New Zealand, Mr Beck said.

"If you want to send a message to the world, put a rocket into space," he said.