When asked if he had ever dreamed about going into space, he said, \u201cAbsolutely not. <\/p>\n
Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Sir Peter Beck says he would never board a rocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know every part of the rocket intimately, and the safety factor is 1.1 to 1.2 everywhere. So I have immense respect for astronauts that can climb aboard a rocket and put that out of their mind. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would not be able to do that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Despite his concern about rocket travel, he said he would happily travel by helicopter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a helicopter pilot, so that\u2019s fine because I don\u2019t know the safety factor of everything that I\u2019m flying on, but if you know the thing you\u2019re flying on, I think that\u2019s worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the beginning of Rocket Lab, Beck said he would split his time 50\/50 between the US and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
He always enjoyed coming home and didn\u2019t foresee that changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing that\u2019s changed is now we have Rocket Lab Europe, so I\u2019ve got to travel a little bit further.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, what that also means is you\u2019ve got US time, New Zealand time, and European time, and if you mash all those together, it\u2019s like literally my phone is ringing 24 hours a day.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rocket Lab has booked 16 missions for its yet-to-launch Neutron rocket, which is booked until at least 2030.<\/p>\n
Beck was recently named CEO of the Year<\/a> at the 2026 BusinessDesk CEO Index Awards. <\/p>\n