SOMETHING ABOUT SPACE THAT ALWAYS ATTRACTED ME.

He had planned to go to university. But he served a tool-and-die apprenticeship with an appliance manufacturer, and stayed on, designing robotic production tools.

Beck never went back to school. “My career was all about trying to leverage myself to be in a position to achieve my dream of building rockets.” He designed systems for racing yachts, and worked on advanced materials for a New Zealand government lab. At the same time, “all these companies let me work on rocket engines with their software, vibration tables and diagnostic tools,” he says. “Everything started to take a giant leap.”

In 2005, he visited the U.S. to see NASA and commercial organizations such He believed his system could revolutionize satellite launches. More organizations would be able to launch weather satellites, observation cameras and sensors, or even provide Internet access from space.

Raising money from a private investor who was also a space buff, and leveraging government grants, Rocket Labs launched its first missile in 2007. When local broadcasters wanted to cover the event, Beck insisted their parent companies show the launch too — wrangling international coverage.

Beck worked for years without a salary. To stay afloat, Rocket Labs performed contract R&D on propulsion and guidance systems for the U.S. Defense