#astronomy #spacecraft 


**Rocket Lab Corporation** is a publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider. 
## History

>[!Founder]
>![[Pasted image 20251220003418.png]]
>Peter Beck

Founded in 2006 by **Peter Beck** in New Zealand, after a trip to the US wherein he realized the possibility and potential for a low-cost small rocket.
While contacting potential investors he met **Mark Rocket**, who later became a seed investor.

The company became the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space after launching its [[Ātea-1]] sounding rocket in November 2009. The payload wasn't receovered and the launch took place off the coast of New Zealed, from the private Great Mercury Island belonging to Michael Fay, a Rocket Lab investor. Ātea-2 was planned bu was scrapped later.

In 2010, the company was awared a US gov contract to study a low-cost space launcher to place [[CubeSats]] into orbit.