Meet Peter Beck: From NASA rejection to building a $2.9 billion rocket company

Peter Beck never earned a university degree or landed the aerospace job he hoped would launch his career. Instead, the New Zealand engineer turned rejection into an opportunity that reshaped his future. After an unsuccessful trip to the United States in 2006, where attempts to gain experience with organisations including NASA and Boeing fell short, Beck returned home with a different plan: build his own rocket company, he revealed in an interview with CNBC.He founded Rocket Lab later that year, growing it from a small New Zealand start-up into one of the world's leading commercial space firms. Today, Rocket Lab is the third most frequent orbital launch provider globally, while Beck's fortune has climbed to an estimated $2.9 billion, making him one of New Zealand's richest entrepreneurs despite taking an unconventional path into the aerospace industry.How Peter Beck built engineering skills without a university degree Beck grew up fascinated by engineering and rockets, but he chose an unconventional route. As reported by Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Instead of attending university, he began an apprenticeship as a precision engineer at New Zealand appliance manufacturer Fi...