WEBVTT - Bonus: Rocket Lab Investor Q&A with Sir Peter Beck

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<v Speaker 1>I've got some questions that have come in from shareholders

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<v Speaker 1>over the last couple of days. So the first one

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<v Speaker 1>is what made you pick space?

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<v Speaker 2>So the reason I like space is that you can

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<v Speaker 2>have maximum impact on this planet for kind of minimum

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<v Speaker 2>resources and effort.

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<v Speaker 3>So think about this.

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<v Speaker 2>You can put a spacecraft in orbit, and we did

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<v Speaker 2>take an example of a weather spacecraft we put in

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<v Speaker 2>orbit a few years ago, and that whether spacecraft can

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<v Speaker 2>provide data and services and knowledge to literally hundreds of

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<v Speaker 2>millions of people every day times the duration of the

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<v Speaker 2>spacecraft's lifetime, which could be ten years. So there's crazy

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<v Speaker 2>little box of electronics can have just huge amount of

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<v Speaker 2>impact to so many people. And there's very few industries

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<v Speaker 2>that you can have that amount of impact or have

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<v Speaker 2>that amount of reach. So that's primary, you know, the

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<v Speaker 2>thing I love about space.

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<v Speaker 3>Plus it's cool. Yeah. Cool.

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<v Speaker 1>The next question is are you contributing to space junk

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<v Speaker 1>and is there a plan to clean it up?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>So I think anybody who launches anything to space, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>has to put their hand on their heart and say, yet, well,

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes we leave some stuff behind. We've always taken in

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<v Speaker 2>the approach that we want to leave the minimum out

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<v Speaker 2>behind as we can possible. So you know, the way

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<v Speaker 2>that Electron goes to orbit is quite different to most rockets.

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<v Speaker 2>You'll notice that there's like a little bit on the

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<v Speaker 2>top called to kickstage, and we try and deorbit that

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<v Speaker 2>wherever possible and just leave behind only the customer spacecraft.

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<v Speaker 2>Now that's not the normal thing, like a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of countries will just leave the whole spent

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<v Speaker 2>upper stage of the rocket and orbit. So that you know,

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<v Speaker 2>that's that's pretty nasty. And I think there's a there's

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<v Speaker 2>a common misperception that space junk is just dead satellites.

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<v Speaker 2>Actually it's like one third dead rockets and two thirds

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<v Speaker 2>dead satellites or thereabouts. So we certainly do everything we

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<v Speaker 2>can to you know, to make sure we have the

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<v Speaker 2>minimum impact possible. And I would say as far as

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<v Speaker 2>companies go or businesses go, we're probably the furthest leaning

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<v Speaker 2>forward on kind of advocating for kind of regulation. Generally,

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<v Speaker 2>as an entrepreneur, you don't want any regulation, but this

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<v Speaker 2>is an instance where you know, we think that some

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<v Speaker 2>traffic management is going to be critical, and we certainly

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<v Speaker 2>certainly advocate for that.

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<v Speaker 1>Internationally, I mean, there's definitely seems to be an exponential

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<v Speaker 1>curve and with regards to how much is going up,

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<v Speaker 1>isn't it when you say d orbit like, so you've

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<v Speaker 1>got to you have to some additional propulsion or.

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<v Speaker 3>Something, right, correct?

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<v Speaker 2>Ye, So that that keck stage has a little rocket

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<v Speaker 2>engine on it and we circularize the orbit, deploy the spacecraft,

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<v Speaker 2>and wherever possible, we will burn that engine again and

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<v Speaker 2>put it into a into a declining orbit.

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<v Speaker 1>What we touched on a couple of these earlier. But

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<v Speaker 1>what are the macro factors that impact the space industry

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<v Speaker 1>and therefore rocket labe.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I think from a I guess purely from

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<v Speaker 2>a sheer price standpoint. You know, there's there's there's plenty

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<v Speaker 2>of you know, macro factors. You know that that that

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<v Speaker 2>influence that that that we have no control over. But

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<v Speaker 2>kind of generally the space industry seems pretty insulated from

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<v Speaker 2>from a lot of these things, just because of the

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<v Speaker 2>duration of the of the programs typically.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, do you have any sensitivities it's or much sensitivity

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<v Speaker 1>to the interest rate environment and stuff obviously.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, yeah, Yeah, within the share price, you know, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we can we can have a flawless launch and the

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<v Speaker 2>share price goes down simply because of a macro environment

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<v Speaker 2>kind of thing.

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<v Speaker 3>And favorite space movie.

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<v Speaker 2>Two thousand and one Space Odyssey, and as you want

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<v Speaker 2>on track, Yeah, yeah, so as you walked into the facility,

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<v Speaker 2>hopefully if you've watched that movie enough times, you'll recognize

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<v Speaker 2>the entrance portal is actually the very similar to the

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<v Speaker 2>portal of the you know, the Hell Computer.

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<v Speaker 3>What's the most accurate space movie?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, actually two thousand and one Space is actually very accurate.

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<v Speaker 2>It's one of the few space movies that doesn't have

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<v Speaker 2>sound in space. You find you see a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of those movies, and you know, the cruiser

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<v Speaker 2>will ignite its engineer here this roar.

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<v Speaker 3>It's no.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, it's fully over It quite a fundamental hurdle. I

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<v Speaker 1>would say that, Yeah, what steps are you taking to

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<v Speaker 1>improve the growth of Rock labment?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well, I mean you can see you can see

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<v Speaker 2>the you know, the growth rate today you need that

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<v Speaker 2>seventy percent. So you know, we're always looking at new opportunities,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know we're investing heavily into projects and products

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<v Speaker 2>like neutron. You know, neutron is is going to be

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<v Speaker 2>a huge needle mover. And then you know if you

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<v Speaker 2>look at the combination of the space and the and

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<v Speaker 2>the launch you know that in opening up that that

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<v Speaker 2>three hundred and twenty billion dollar TAM, you know, we're

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<v Speaker 2>moving reving pretty aggressively towards that.

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<v Speaker 1>And has Rocke Lab considered adding another launch site in

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<v Speaker 1>New Zealand or Australia.

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<v Speaker 3>No.

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<v Speaker 2>Generally I avoid launch sites. They are giant cost centers.

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<v Speaker 2>It costs a lot of money to operate a launch site,

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<v Speaker 2>to staff it, to to keep it, to keep it running.

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<v Speaker 2>So I want the minimum amount of launch sites possible

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<v Speaker 2>to achieve our launch manifest because they are you know, they're.

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<v Speaker 3>P and L burners.

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<v Speaker 2>So we don't we don't want more of those.

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<v Speaker 1>What are the competitive advantages in operating out of New

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<v Speaker 1>Zealand and what are the challenges?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, great question. So the reason why we have operations

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<v Speaker 2>in New Zealand is primarily because of that launch site.

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<v Speaker 2>So all the launch sites in the United States are

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<v Speaker 2>pretty much flat out, and we made a strategic decision

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<v Speaker 2>to not have to line up behind the you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the big players in the industry and way to turn.

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<v Speaker 2>So you know, it wasn't an easy one because we

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<v Speaker 2>had to you know, there had to be a technology

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<v Speaker 2>safeguard agreement signed between the two countries. A bilateral treaty

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<v Speaker 2>had to be created between New Zealand and the US.

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<v Speaker 2>A whole lot of rules and regulations had to be

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<v Speaker 2>created and amended. A Space Agency was created. So like,

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<v Speaker 2>it wasn't an easy thing to do, but we realize

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<v Speaker 2>it now because you know, we are the third most

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<v Speaker 2>frequent launch rocket in the world. And what we're able

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<v Speaker 2>to do is poke our head outside the hangar and go,

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<v Speaker 2>today's a good day for launch.

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<v Speaker 3>We'll guard launch today.

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<v Speaker 2>And moreover, it's it meets our business model where customers

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<v Speaker 2>move around on us. So if you're lined up at

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<v Speaker 2>the cape and you miss your window, you're going to

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<v Speaker 2>wait months to get your next window. Whereas if we

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<v Speaker 2>want to move a couple of days down to Mahre,

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<v Speaker 2>no big deal.

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<v Speaker 3>We'll just move a couple of days. Any other companies

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<v Speaker 3>using the MA here inside or was it just.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, we operate the only private orbital launch site

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<v Speaker 2>in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll ask this one because it's here so tasty? Or

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<v Speaker 1>eat them cheese nice? Now we've got the important stuff

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<v Speaker 1>out of the way to give into this one. Once

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<v Speaker 1>Neutron R and D is complete and the rocket is operational.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you anticipate that you'll need to reduce your engineering

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<v Speaker 1>R and D headcount become cash flow positive or will

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<v Speaker 1>the staff be able to be reassigned to further space

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<v Speaker 1>systems development while still maintaining a healthy profits.

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<v Speaker 2>Ye, that's a great question. So if we were just

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<v Speaker 2>going to stop at Neutron, maybe, but we're not. You've

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<v Speaker 2>seen you've seen our kind of growth a gender here.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, Neutron is one important piece of a puzzle

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<v Speaker 2>to get to an endo ends space systems company and

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<v Speaker 2>and really move into those products and services and delivering

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<v Speaker 2>infrastructure and or bit And I mean the same question

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<v Speaker 2>could have been asked of Electron. But the one thing

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<v Speaker 2>I will say is the one thing that that has

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<v Speaker 2>always been a throttle on this business is talent. And

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<v Speaker 2>we can never pipe enough people, enough engineers into this

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<v Speaker 2>business to you know, to continue on.

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<v Speaker 3>The growth trajectory that we want.

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<v Speaker 2>So I just can I never see that that being

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<v Speaker 2>you know, a challenge and and I think you know,

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<v Speaker 2>Neutron is is a very transformational kind of product line

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<v Speaker 2>in its own right, and the amount of engineers that

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<v Speaker 2>that you have to you to deliver that product isn't

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<v Speaker 2>is as many as you think, and those engineers will

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<v Speaker 2>be quickly kind of you redeployed into into other growth opportunities.

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<v Speaker 3>There's a good question a bit of a site to

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<v Speaker 3>it at the moment. So where are we, Peter, and

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<v Speaker 3>what we got here?

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<v Speaker 2>So this is sort of part of the foyer and

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<v Speaker 2>this is actually a recovered upper stage of an electron rocket.

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<v Speaker 2>So this is the very first rocket that we brought

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<v Speaker 2>back down from space and we cut it up and

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<v Speaker 2>stuck it in the foyer. And if you ever want

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<v Speaker 2>to touch something that's been to space and back, then

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<v Speaker 2>now is a chance.

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<v Speaker 3>Very cool. And where did you Where did you find it?

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<v Speaker 2>So we fished this out of the ocean. So this

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<v Speaker 2>was on a return to send a mission. Yeah, so

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<v Speaker 2>flight sixteen and you know it separated in its normal

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<v Speaker 2>trajectory and then followed a ballistic arc. We re entered

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<v Speaker 2>the atmosphere and then landed in the ocean and then

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<v Speaker 2>picked it back up.

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<v Speaker 1>So one of the coolest receptions, well certainly the corest

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<v Speaker 1>reception of you've been into we heard a story about

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of this. When you walk into rocket Lab,

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<v Speaker 1>you can tell us a little bit about the thinking

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<v Speaker 1>into the space.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so as you into the portal behind you there,

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<v Speaker 2>it should look a little bit like two thousand and

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<v Speaker 2>one Space Odyssey, And you know, you want to be

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<v Speaker 2>transformed when you come in here into what the space

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<v Speaker 2>business is actually like. So you know, this area is

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<v Speaker 2>kind of a reception for sure, but also behind all

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<v Speaker 2>those glass panes there is you know, that's mission control.

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<v Speaker 2>So it gives a great opportunity for staff, for visitors

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<v Speaker 2>to come here and actually experience a launch and watch

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<v Speaker 2>watch mission control as it kind of happens.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and what are the people in their mission there's

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<v Speaker 1>no launches today, but we've got a bunch of people

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<v Speaker 1>in there. What are they sort of up to on

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<v Speaker 1>the day to day.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, so on on a day to day basis, you

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<v Speaker 2>know that they're running either whole stage tests or stack

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<v Speaker 2>tests or launching. We also run some some of our

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<v Speaker 2>satellite missions out of there, where share five mission controls

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<v Speaker 2>across all of our sites in the world, and at

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<v Speaker 2>any one time, you know, we're controlling spacecraft or launching

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<v Speaker 2>rockets and various kind of testing activities out of all

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<v Speaker 2>of those mission controls.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Great, and we've got a sort of NAIs deck.

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<v Speaker 1>It looks like the Bell site or something from But

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<v Speaker 1>can you sell us a little bit why you chose

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<v Speaker 1>to the nasdack is the place to list the company?

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<v Speaker 3>Yes?

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<v Speaker 2>So, I mean from from a high growth tech company standpoint.

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<v Speaker 2>The Nasbeck narsdeck exchange, you know, just really suited us,

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<v Speaker 2>you know most it's most accurately represents who we are

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<v Speaker 2>as a company. Investing involves risk. You might lose the

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<v Speaker 2>money you start with. We recommend talking to a licensed

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<v Speaker 2>financial advisor. We also recommend reading product or sclosure documents

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<v Speaker 2>before deciding to invest.