Rocket Lab: First Kiwi space apprenticeship blasts off

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Rocket Lab gives Stuff exclusive access to its Auckland factory as it launches New Zealand's first space apprenticeship.

Mercury Nisbet has always had his head in the stars.

Now the aptly named 20-year-old is making a career of his longstanding love of space, and he’s getting paid to do it.

The former Whangārei boy is part of the inaugural cohort accepted into New Zealand’s first aerospace apprenticeship, offered by Rocket Lab.

Stuff was given access to the tightly controlled Rocket Lab factory in Auckland on Monday.

The apprentices are gaining the skills required to assemble Electron launch vehicles and work with other space hardware, supervised by specialists and engineers at the satellite launch company.

* Rocket Lab plans to shoot satellites to the moon and beyond with new 'Photon' spaceship

* Meet the South-Auckland teenager who builds rockets for a living

Conditions are strictly controlled inside the clean room to prevent the contamination of sensitive components.

It’s high-stakes work.

Immediately before he caught up with Stuff at the Rocket Lab factory in Auckland, Nisbet was at work inside a “clean room” helping assemble precision hardware destined for the launch vehicle’s oxygen tanks.

Technicians inside the room wear head-to-toe protective gear and must take the utmost care not to introduce contaminants.

That's because even a smudge of unwanted grease on a tiny component could cause a rocket to go up in smoke.

The possible consequences of any error were made clear in grim fashion earlier in July, when an Electron rocket belonging to the company was lost, along with its payload of satellites.

Excited to have launched his career in the space industry is Mercury Nisbet, Rocket Lab Junior Mechanical Assembly Technician.

It remains unclear what caused the loss as the company combs through flight data and works with the United States’ Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to determine what happened.

Nisbet relishes the demanding work and level of precision required.

Rocket sections lie under American and New Zealand flags inside the high-tech factory.

“The fact it’s very detail-orientated and you have to pay a lot of attention to everything you do really appeals to me.”

Also appealing to the straight-talking Whangārei Boys High School old-boy was being able to skip university and get stuck into practical training.

Not a tool out of place inside the Rocket Lab factory.

His decision has echoes of the early career of founder and chief executive Peter Beck, who became a toolmaking apprentice aged 17 with Fisher & Paykel.

Nisbet is part of the mechanical production team and holds the title of junior mechanical assembly technician.

His work involves assembling smaller components which are then put together by another team where they are fitted to the rockets.

While the name Mercury is inspired by a car rather than the planet, Nisbet has long looked to the skies.

“I have been interested in space for a very long time, right from when I was very small.”

Seeking super-precise and practical applicants for a new space apprenticeship is Jamie France, Rocket Lab Director of Production. Rocket Lab in Mt Wellington, Auckland.

Jamie France, Rocket Lab’s production director, runs the show inside its Auckland factory.

He said its recruits were an interesting mix.

Many came from the aviation industry while others moved from the automotive or marine industries – France himself was formerly an engineer with sailing’s Team New Zealand.

Rocket sections inside the Mt Wellington factory.

Rocket Lab was spurred to launch the apprenticeship program because of difficulties finding top talent, France said.

He was seeking highly practical people who also had “incredible attention to detail”.

“You’ve got to be practical but you’ve also got to be precise as well.

“There’s no second chances with a rocket launch.”

While agriculture is a world away from space flight, a farming background could provide a good launchpad for a career with the company, he said.

“Some of the best people who were formative in the early years of rocket lab came off the farm they were just incredibly practical.”

Rocket Lab engineers led the development of new Aerospace unit standards which are now part of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) framework.

The company said the standards would allow apprentices and specialist technicians to be fully qualified in their trade for the first time.

The apprenticeship, created with industry training organisation Service IQ, requires applications to first complete the Level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Aeronautical Engineering or have equivalent industry experience.

Depending on demand, Rocket Lab said it would look at expanding the apprenticeship by opening it up to high school-leavers in 2021.