NASA Escorted Rocket Lab CEO Off Its Premises In 2006 — He Then Drew A Logo On A Napkin And Launched His Own Multi-Billion Dollar Space Business

In 2006, a rocket enthusiast from New Zealand traveled to the United States, aiming to impress NASA with his experiments and secure an internship. Instead, he was escorted off the premises. Undeterred, he returned home, sketched a logo on a napkin, and began building his own space company.

Changing Trajectory: Rocket Lab USA Inc RKLB founder and CEO Peter Beck started his own rocket company after NASA and other companies like Boeing Co BA wouldn’t give him a chance to pursue his dreams, according to CNBC. Today, his space startup launches satellites for NASA and Rocket Lab is worth nearly $3.5 billion. 

“On the face of it, here's a foreign national turning up to an Air Force base asking a whole bunch of questions about rockets — that doesn't look good,” Beck told CNBC’s Make It last year.

It might have been for the best, as few companies were building what he envisioned: a lightweight suborbital rocket capable of launching satellites.

Beck founded Rocket Lab in 2006, and three years later, it became the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space, but the journey wasn’t easy.

Shortly after starting the company, Beck attempted to raise $5 million from Silicon Valley investors, which he described as one of his biggest challenges. At the time, the only other rocket startup was Elon Musk's SpaceX, which was itself considered a long shot.

“A rocket startup from someone living in New Zealand was even more absurd,” Beck added. 

Check This Out: Mark Cuban Says This Is The Key To ‘Controlling Your Own Destiny’ And Making Big Time Money

The Rocket Lab CEO ended up having to raise small amounts of funding from several different places, but it helped to shape the startup. When you see opportunities, you have to poke your head out but not commit too deeply, he said: “Otherwise, you'll get your head cut off.”

Sometimes it’s ok to take big risks and other times it’s better to be safe and methodical, Beck said, noting without flawless execution, the consequences can be devastating.

Beck used to get sick on every launch day in the early stages. Although he’s beyond that now, he said it’s still hard to enjoy them. 

“There's just so much invested in each launch. So much responsibility,” he said. 

Getting the company’s first rocket into orbit was one of the easiest parts because everyone’s attention was on that one rocket launch. Now the company rolls a new rocket off its production line every 18 days, he said. 

“Just when you think things are going good, you're reminded of how hard this business really is. Every time that you take too much of a breath, you'll be humbled very quickly,” Beck said. 

Rocket Lab reached 50 launches of its Electron rocket this year. The company hit that milestone faster than any commercially developed rocket in history. Rocket Lab generated more than $244 million in revenue last year and reported revenue growth of 71% last quarter.

Beck was also recently featured in the HBO documentary “Wild Wild Space,” which explores the rivalry between Beck and Astra co-founder Chris Kemp and focuses on some of the people trying to take on the biggest players in the space industry.

Now Read: 

• Entrepreneur Makes 175K Per Year Selling T-Shirts He Never Touches And He Works Just 1 Hour A Day

This story is part of a series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire. Some elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and it has been updated.

Photo: courtesy of Rocket Lab.