Would Peter Beck fly into space? His surprising…

Would Peter Beck fly into space? His surprising response

Peter Beck has long maintained he has no desire to buy a ticket on Virgin Galactic.

Yesterday, as he unveiled his company's crew-capable Neutron, he was again asked if he would want to leave Earth's orbit.

The 40m tall Neutron is due to blast off in 2024.

It will be funded by about US$750m ($1027m) from Rocket Lab's pending listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange at US$4.1 billion ($6b) valuation.

Beck told journalists that the Neutron's first missions from 2024 would be to lift fleets of satellites into space - the new rocket will be able to handle payloads of up to 8 tonnes, or 8000kg, compared to the 300kg manifests its current 18m Electron can send into orbit.

But in the years ahead, he sees it being used for crewed missions and ferrying supplies everywhere from the International Space Station to the moon and Mars.

So, will Beck hop aboard?

Beck in front of a mockup of the Neutron's nose cone. Photo / Supplied

In short, nope. "I'm in no rush to go to space, to be honest with you," the entrepreneur said yesterday.

"I think I probably understand the risks too well.

"I'm one of those guys who sits in an aircraft and looks out a window, counting the fatigue cycles on the wing - knowing that the safety factor is 1.2 on this and 1.3 on that. So I'd not make a good passenger on a launch vehicle."

Beck's early-stage Rocket Lab collaborator Mark Rocket still plans to fly into space, however.

Rocket (born Mark Stevens) still has his US$200,000 Virgin Galactic ticket, but recently told the Herald that the space tourism venture has been delayed, yet again, this time by Covid.

Two of Rocket Lab's 18 Electron flights have failed.

The first was the Electron's maiden test flight, It's a Test, in May 2017, when the decision was made (the Herald understands by a regulator) over what was believed to be a safety concern over down-range tracking. It later transpired, however, that It's a Test was being properly tracked.

The second was in July last year, when the Pic Or It Didn't Happen mission suffered a wiring fault that caused its second-stage engine to switch off prematurely about five-and-a-half minutes after the rocket took off.

Beck mused afterwards: "There are thousands of ways a launch can go wrong, and only one way it can go right".

Rival Space X has had a number of mission failures - or learning experiences, as owner Elon Musk prefers to style them. The latest was on February 15 this year when a Falcon 9 booster went off course.