WEBVTT - Rocket Lab off to Mars–Sir Peter Beck 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:09.080 Hi there, Welcome to Shared Lunch. My name's Later Robertson, 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.760 the co founder and co CEO at Shareses. We've got 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:13.960 a really exciting episode for you today because I'm on 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:17.079 site in Auckland at rocket Lab with Sir Peter Beck. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.760 But as always, before we get started, here's some important information. 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.239 Investing involves risk you might lose the money you start with. 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.479 We recommend talking to a licensed financial advisor. We also 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:34.320 recommend reading product disclosure documents before deciding to invest. Everything 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.960 you're about to see and here is current at the 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:37.839 time of recording. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.320 Well, thanks so much for joining us again, Peter, always 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.680 a pleasure, fantastic to be here in your space as well. 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.120 It's probably the coolest place that I've ever filmed a 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.640 podcast for, that's for sure. Firstly, though, it's the first 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.519 time we've spoken to you, that Sir Peter beank, So 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:54.400 how does that feel? And is it being the official 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:55.920 ceremony you had the sword on the shoulder? 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:00.320 Oh no, that that's to come very unusual old. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.880 Yeah, I mean I'm just just a Southern board trying 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:03.720 to build some rockets. 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:07.759 So it's yeah, it's very cool and congratulations and it's 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.480 great to have someone in our entrepreneurial community, in particular 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.200 with the profile and just doing these podcasts as well. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:16.160 Over the last couple days, I've been watching a bunch 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.120 and I see how many you've been doing with some 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.360 quite random people. Actually they're invest in the retail network. 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.240 Is that a real focus of yours or something that 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:24.520 you're really quite deliberate about. 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.280 Yeah, I mean, so we have a wide investor base 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.480 and we have a reasonable sized retail base as well. 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.920 So you know, we do a lot of views with 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.040 analysts and you know, your normal kind of Wall Street folks, 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.319 but no, I like, I think it's important, you know, to. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:41.600 Talk to all investors. 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.560 Yeah, fantastic. So you've just had the biggest quarter in 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.480 company history, Q two twenty twenty four. Can you give 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:50.680 us a little bit of an outline of those earnings? 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.680 Yeah, so, I mean i'll convert it on the fly 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:57.240 to New Zealand dollars being a usentity, But so about 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:00.600 one hundred and seventy million New Zealand dollars quarter, which, 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:02.800 as you point out, it's our biggest quarter you know, 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.720 to date, and you know that that represents, you know, 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:07.800 on a year to date kind of basis of seventy 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.919 one percent year over year and increase in revenue, which 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.960 is which which we're very happy about, and you know, 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.880 in about a fifteen percent increased quarter on quarter, so 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.120 you know, really really good solid earnings and great to 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:22.760 you know, tack over one hundred million us D mark 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:24.120 per quarter. 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.760 Yeah, fantastic, some really big numbers there. What's driving that 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:28.720 year on your growth? 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.360 Primarily it's across all sectors, so it's not just you know, 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.160 launches standout or Space systems a standouts, it's everything. 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:36.480 Really. 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.240 You know, our backlog is also increased, and you know, 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.120 we're sitting at round about one point six billion mzd 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:47.600 in backlog and the majority of that backlog sits in 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:51.000 our Space System's division. But you know, both launch and 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.600 space Systems has just been growing really really strongly. 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:58.079 Great. And then the other one I noted was certainly 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.160 that gap between the revenue and the lost number are 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.800 starting to get much closer. And is that a focus 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:05.679 and what's the sort of plan introductory from there? 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:09.000 Yeah, so that'll move around because obviously we're investing a 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.080 tremendous amount of Neutron. I mean, new Neutron is our 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.440 large rocket and you know it is it's consuming, you know, 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:17.320 it is the big consumer of cash for the business. 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.880 Absent that, then you know, the business looks very profitable. 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:23.960 But you know, we're strategically investing in that for the future. 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.240 You know, what we're trying to build here is an 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.360 end to end space company. And what that really means 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.120 is like customers can come to us or governments can 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.320 come to us, and we just provide the entire solution. 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:36.920 Yeah. Nice, Well that sort of brings me nicely into 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.200 the question because the earnings report did focus a bit 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:42.560 on that and interesting how that looks like, particularly that 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.520 the data and services and stuff, and how a miniment 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.200 I suppose and that strategy is for Rockabed to be 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:48.760 moving into that. 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.520 Yeah, I think if you look at all of the 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:53.720 large space companies of the future, they're not going to 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:55.440 look like a launch company. They're not going to look 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:57.440 like a satellite company. They're going to look like an 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.120 infrastructure company. And you know, we're accelerating as fast as 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.200 we can to get to that point. And really the 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:06.120 last piece in that puzzle for us is Neutron having 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.640 you know, a multi ton capability to lift orbit is 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:11.560 really the only piece of the puzzle that's missing. 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.200 Yeah, nice and multi ton How many tons are we talking? 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.120 This can be a thirteen thirteen yeah. 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.799 Right, And it's always good to put that in context. 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:22.320 You know, Electron our current rocket lifvets three hundred and 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.640 twenty kgs, so you know, you're lifting thirteen thousand cage and. 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:27.960 I'm looking at those out behind us and they're still 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:28.520 very big. 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.520 You know, it's huge. Yeah, it's absolutely huge. 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.320 And in fact, you know, we just we're just announced 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:39.080 today and put out some details of our large automatic 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:42.320 five placement machine, which is a technical way of saying 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:46.000 like the world's biggest carbon composite three D printer, you know, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:51.320 is massive machine, seventy five ton machine that makes the tanks. 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:56.040 Yeah, credible, And that's that you mentioned. Is the going 0:04:56.080 --> 0:05:00.440 to be the competitor for the Falcon the SpaceX Yeah. 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.240 Yeah, yeah, So, I mean there is kind of unashamably 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.160 a kind of monopoly and medium launch right now, and 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.760 you know, our friends over at spaces have done very 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.800 well with the Falcon nine, but there does need to 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.080 be some balance restored in that market with a competitor. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.280 So that's the intention with Neutron. 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:18.880 Yeah. Great, So I mean, where are we at with 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.720 Neutron then it was i think originally targeted for the 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.000 end of this year now into twenty twenty five, with 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:25.240 how's the progress going on there? 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.919 Yeah, So I mean we always kind of at any 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.560 launch date with it's a rocket program, and you know, 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:33.880 I think if you looked at some of the earnings 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.760 and you look at the development timelines of our vehicles, 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.680 crazy short compared to any other launch vehicle. I mean, 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.080 Electron was brought to market from announcement in like two 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:50.159 point eight years. Contrasts that with more traditional programs and 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:52.159 they're measured in eight to ten. 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:52.760 Years or more. 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.400 So you know, Neutron is on task to be delivered 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.159 in sort of four and a half years, which is 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:01.440 faster than anybody's ever delivered a medium launch viewvehicle. So 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:03.320 so yeah, the plans to try and get this to 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.640 the pad by Miller next year and get the first 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:09.240 run away. But you know, it is a rocket program, 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.279 and you know it is there's there's just a huge 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:14.480 amount of things that all have to come together. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.560 Yeah, And just like on that coming back to that 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:21.440 competitors space, the sort of cost per kilo aiming for 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:22.760 still on track for that as well. 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.440 Yeah so, so cost pequilo is is a is a 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:29.520 lovely metric that everybody can understand, but it's absolutely useless 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.719 because nobody ever buys a rocket on a cost perkilo 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:36.320 basis by those electrons behind us. A customer will come 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.239 to us, and one customer might have a one hundred 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.360 kg payload, one customer might have a two hundred and 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:41.360 fifty kg payload. 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:42.760 The price is no different. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.720 You buy the rocket at the fixed price of buying 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.719 the rocket. So a cost pekilo metric is a nice 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:52.520 metric that's easily can kind of consumable, but it's not 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.920 how rockets are sold. But nevertheless on a cost pekillo 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.680 gram basis, yes, of course it's it's competitive with with 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:01.240 the the other options out there. 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:06.040 Yeah. Great, So between now and Neutron, the electron remains 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:07.160 the main revenue stream for. 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:08.240 The launch it does. 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:11.600 Yeah so, space systems accounts for over two thirds of 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.000 the revenue for the company, but you know, for launch here, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.480 electron remains. 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.600 Can you break down some of those other revenue streams 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:20.120 just quickly that two thirds? 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.800 Yeah, so, you know, we don't know typically break down 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.960 into into various categories. Of space systems, but you know 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.560 it's spread across our components businesses, so you know, we 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.280 sell a tremendous amount of components into other people's platforms. 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.120 In fact, last year, thirty eight percent of everything that 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.680 went to orbit had a Rocket Lab blogo on it globally, 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:42.760 so you. 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:43.680 Know, whether it's a reaction. 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:45.920 We're a solar panel, you know, we sell a lot 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.760 of those components in and then and then spacecraft as well, 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:51.960 so you know we have over forty five spacecraft and 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:56.360 backlog representing over seven hundred million US dollars of revenue 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.240 in the future. So so yeah, it's we cover a 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:01.680 wide spectrum of spacecraft. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.840 Yeah, so you collect the majority of cash on there, 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:08.280 so ninety percent I think. 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:12.480 Before launch for yeah, so on the launch business model, 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.640 you know, everybody always focuses on how many launches did 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.120 you get off in the quarter, which is yeah, you know, 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.520 it's a good metric to track, but actually from a 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.200 cash collection standpoint. 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:22.920 It's totally irrelevant. 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.840 So you know, as you kind of point out, when 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.840 it comes to launch day, we have collected ninety percent 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.640 of all of the contract value. So you know, our 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:36.160 business model with Electron is our customers fly with us 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.560 because we can tailor the mission and we can tailor 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:42.440 the timelines. So it's not uncommon for a customer to 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:45.200 delay a launch because their spacecraft isn't ready or they 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.600 want to optimize their orbit or those kinds of things. 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.400 And of course that can play havoc with our quarters 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.360 because you know, it shifts a launch from one quarter 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.400 to the other. And I guess what we're trying to 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.080 try to explain to people there is that, well, don't 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.400 get too worried. It doesn't actually matter because we would 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.080 have probably elected up to ninety percent of the cash 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.280 collections against that contract. And the contracts never go away, 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.600 they just sort of move around in the quarters. And 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.559 that's actually a value proposition. That's why people come fly 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.400 with us. So one one side of the equation, you know, 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.240 we don't want to be penalized by the street for 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.679 moving a thing between quarters because that's actually their business model. 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:24.880 And I mean, what happens if the if something goes 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.160 wrong with the launch, if you already clicked the ninety 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:27.720 percent weeks. 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.320 Now, that is that is that is the way launch 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:34.880 contracts are written. So you know, once we intention intentionally 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.080 ignite the engines. That is one hundred percent of the 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.120 contract complete. Generally, occasionally there is there's some some kind 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.920 of extra extra things on the contract, but that's the 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.880 vast majority of all launch contracts on intentional ignition, all 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.520 the you are your service is complete. 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.440 I mentioned that I was chatting with you to my 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.880 overdriver yesterday when I say, driving to the airport, any 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.199 one of his question for you or through me, it 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:04.319 was how you insure rockets and which is sort of 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.839 quite relevant after that, and I said, I'm not sure 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:08.480 if that would be if if as many insurance companies 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:10.000 lighting up, but I said, I got the opportunity I'd 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:10.280 ask you. 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.160 So absolutely, there is no there's a whole there's a 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.760 whole insurance market. Yep, there's absolutely a whole insurance market. 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:20.080 And you know, customers ensure their spacecraft for the replacement 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.200 of their spacecraft, they can insure them for the replacement 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.920 of the spacecraft and another launch. They can even insure 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.120 them for those things. Plus if it does blow up 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:29.840 a loss in revenue in the future. 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:31.120 And there was a. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:37.719 Quite a famous you know, insurance claim a few years 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.880 ago from I think it was like a UAE satellite 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:44.319 where it was lost in a launch failure, and they 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.400 made an insurance claim that actually for the future generation 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.199 of the revenue off that spacecraft, and it was the 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:53.800 largest insurance claim in the space industry's history. Insurance got 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.760 a lot more expensive after that one, But no, there's 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.679 a there's a vibrant insurance market for it. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:04.079 I think if there's many other businesses where revenue is 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.040 you know, contract is delivered at ignite point, you know 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.679 that's that. I don't know, it's be quite unique, I think, 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:10.920 but it makes complete sense. 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:12.839 Well, I mean, this is this is the reality of 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:17.760 the businesses. It's is extraordinarily difficult, and you know that 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:18.160 that that. 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.680 Is It's just it's just the nature of the business. 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.720 Correct. Maybe just the overall'd be really interesting in your 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:26.679 view on the overall health of the space industry at 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:28.600 the moment. It's been a huge amount of check. We 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.680 were just talking about one before. After I've watched the 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:35.200 documentary World Wilde Space, which was fantastic Rock Lab. I thought, so, 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:37.360 what's your feeling of the space industry at the moment 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:38.280 and where it's heading. 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:42.959 So the space industry is generally relatively insulated from kind 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:46.840 of macroeconomic things in a general sense only because a 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.480 lot of the space programs or the space infrastructure programs 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.280 are measured in five or more years of you know, 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.839 of deployment. So if you're going to put a constellation 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:00.040 of Earth observation spacecraft on all, but it could be 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.760 something like a five to seven year timeline, so you 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:06.200 can have a whole economic cycle during that, and generally 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.400 these programs are funded for that duration, so in some respects, 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:14.079 on the large programs, they're relatively insulated from any kind 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:18.079 of major environmental or economic and things. And sometimes some 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.520 really perverse things happened. I think there was there was 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.080 a bit of a boom in the space industry during 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.720 some of the some of the other downturns, simply because 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:28.720 there's a whole lot of unemployed people at home watching 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:32.280 TV and they were all their TV was coming through satellites, 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.360 so they had to launch a whole lot more satellites 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:39.880 to you to actually suffice that demand. So sometimes there's 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:45.280 some perverse outcomes. But I would say that definitely though 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.760 from an entrepreneurial standpoint, the space industry was at its 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:52.920 frothiest in sort of twenty twenty twenty twenty one. 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:54.920 There was crazy world. 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.960 Probably, Yeah, much of the world like just crazy stuff 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:02.120 done and large amounts of capital put it work into 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:06.400 some pretty suspect business models, and you're seeing that kind 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.240 of thrash out now and you're seeing, you know, who 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.400 are the real people in this industry and who are 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:13.360 the less real people in this industry. 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.120 Perhaps a little bit of consolidation happening after that, but. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:22.040 Well that consolidation creates opportunities too, because you know, for us, 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.240 we're able to pick up, you know, a competitor that 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:29.000 failed Virgin Orbit and we're able to pick up you know, 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.160 all of their assets for sixteen cents on the dollar, 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:34.720 which are now hard at work producing neutron engines. 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:39.000 Topical at the moment. But the Boeing situation that's happening 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.960 currently astronauts stuck on the International Space Station due to 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:45.800 some technical issues. So it's just worrying if you had 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.439 any thoughts or views on that happening or sorry on 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:50.120 what's happening with that. 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.360 Yeah, well I think it highlights the fact that it's 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.800 always good to have too, right, and you know, kind 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:57.600 of to our point with neutron as well, it's like 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.800 you can't have one dominant or just one x one 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.040 kind of primary access to space. You need multiple So 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.840 you know, the space industry is super hard. This is 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:11.040 not easy stuff. So you know, I think it really 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.840 speaks to the importance of having more than one supply. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.720 You recently built two spacecraft heading to Mars, the Blue 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.080 and Gold. Is any more developments in that space. 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.720 Yeah, so they're actually shipping as we as we speak 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.720 to head to Cape Canaveral to be launched. So, you know, 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.440 super exciting mission. It's not very often you get to 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.120 work on a planetary mission, and you know, it's just 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.240 super cool for the team. And I would say the 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.080 unique thing about that though, is that typically if you 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.960 look at the logos that are orbiting Mars right now, 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:46.680 they're all the logos that you would expect from the 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:51.160 very large defense in space primes. When those two spacecraft 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.520 from rocket LABL arrive, twenty percent of everything orbiting Mars 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.960 will have a Rocket Lab logo on it. And so 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.760 that's cool in its own right. But the thing is 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:03.440 that generally those programs have a billion dollar price tag 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.520 attached to it, and you know a decade of time 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.400 attached to it. I mean, we built two spacecraft in 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.840 three and a half years for tens of millions of dollars. 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.880 So I mean that that, to me is a bigger 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.560 accomplishment than actually even going to Mars. And why that's 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.560 important is that that that is that is incredibly disruptive 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:27.280 to the space industry, incredibly disruptive to interplanetary science. But 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.800 I think people are looking at that and thinking, well, 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.680 you know, if you can go to Mars for some 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.400 tens of millions of dollars, then that totally changes the 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.200 paradigm of interplanetary research and interplanetary work. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:41.760 How long is the journey there? 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:44.640 Yeah, it's a multi multi year mission, so you know, 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:46.600 the journey to get to Mars is quite long. I 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:48.800 mean there's a transit window to Mars that happens every 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:51.720 couple of years, so I know that that that the 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.680 ends and sort of the end of September or thereabouts, 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.600 and you know, and then then they spend in a 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.280 long time in a cruise state. The spacecraft themselves have 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.200 tremendous amount of propulsion on board. The mission is very 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.280 very difficult. It's not you know, we don't just put 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:08.880 the spacecraft to sleep for a couple of years and 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.240 arrive at Mars where there's active maneuvering all the way, 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:13.480 and then when they get there, we have to capture 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.800 Mars's gravitational field and go into orbit. And then once 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:18.080 we're in orbit, we have to do a whole bunch 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.880 of maneuvers for the science. So very difficult mission not 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.120 certainly no respects. 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.320 And that maneuvering is still largely human driven. It's sort 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.280 of not set beforehand. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.240 With there's certainly nobody's on a joystick because there's like 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:37.680 a twenty minute delay, but there's all pre pre programmed. 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:42.240 Maneuvers and speaking into planetary a couple of years ago, 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:44.040 maybe I think it's first sort of mentioned the idea 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:48.840 of finding aliens in venus. What's any progress there or thoughts? 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.120 Yeah, yeah, so you know that is that is the 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.360 nights and a weekend's kind of you know, philanthropic project. 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.240 Nobody's paying for that, so you know, we just kind 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.320 of take orbits and put them together and do stuff 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:01.120 and nights and weekends. 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.240 So you know, the probe is coming on really well. 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.120 So the probe probe. 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:09.440 Manufacturing is almost complete, the instrument manufacturing is complete, and 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:11.600 you know we're just we're just waiting for the right 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.280 time to get that away. We're too busy with real 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:14.960 work right back. 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:21.440 Yeah, what a cool sideline project day Venus A bit 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.239 closer to home, there's been some speculation I've been read 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:26.240 about the Internet that SpaceX might end up with a 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.639 spot in Australia. I don't know how true that is, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.080 but if that word happens, that impact rocket lappen anyway 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:32.560 or no. 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:34.720 I mean, they're going to need spots all around the 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.560 world because with the fully reusable orbital kind of concept 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:40.760 is you know you're in orbit and the Earth is 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.000 processing processing under underneath you. 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:44.840 So you can't just take off and. 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:48.440 Land back where you started because you know it's processed 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.640 and you're you're in a different spot now. So they're 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.240 going to have to land in different countries and then 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:55.880 you know, once you land. 0:17:55.680 --> 0:18:01.520 In Australia, you have to then ship the vehicle back 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.000 to the United States and all the rest of it. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.320 And I guess, you know, some of that is what 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.639 drove us when if you look at the architecture of Neutron, 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.480 there's there's kind of two schools here, right like fully 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:16.600 reusable or like largely reusable. If you look at a rocket, 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.439 the first stage represents seventy percent of all of the 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.400 cost of the rocket traditionally. Now if you can make 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.160 that seventy percent, eighty or ninety percent, then the kind 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:31.480 of expendable upper stage equation from a business standpoint makes 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.000 great sense, and that's. 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:34.240 What we've really focused on. 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.480 If you look at the upper stage of Neutron, you know, 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.760 it's a giant carbon composite tank, but it's just it's 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.399 wayfer thin. I mean that whole tank. It's five meters 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.720 in diame and a five meters tall weighs the same 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:48.239 as a Harley Davidson motorcycle. So if it doesn't weigh much, 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:51.040 you're not using much material, it doesn't cost much. So 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:53.479 if you look at the architecture of Neutron, it is 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.960 you know, it's it's a giantly outsized first stage for 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:58.440 a tiny little second stage. 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:00.920 But the first stage is the bit that we keep 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:02.800 back and we keep reusing again and again. 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.000 So the economics become a little bit blurry when you've 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.000 got to, you know, ship giant rockets all around the 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:11.199 world and all the rest of it, and you know, 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.000 who knows what they end up turning up actually being. 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.879 But you know, we are for sure certain in the 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:18.840 economics of the neutron approach. 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.760 Anyway, just going to move into the world Wild Space 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.520 movie that we touched on before. I'm not sure if 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:26.720