Rocket Lab founder Sir Peter Beck is trying not to compare himself too much to his mega-wealthy rivals.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origins has successfully launched its first rocket into orbit overnight, while Elon Musk's SpaceX has been launching a pair of landers towards the moon.

Rocket Lab, meanwhile, has been launching a second Varda Pioneer Spacecraft into orbit.

Beck told Tim Beveridge he's never had the capital of his two main competitors, owned by the two wealthiest people on the planet, and he probably never will.

He says the lack of money has forced Rocket Lab to innovate, which has become its strength.

In other space developments, India has docked two spacecraft for the first time, while stranded NASA astronaut Suni Williams has made her first spacewalk on the ISS.

She and her colleague Butch Wilmore aren't expected back on Earth until late March at the earliest.

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Have the standards in New Zealand’s Parliament been slipping?

Between constant interruptions and heckling, name calling, and a haka towards the end of last year, 2024 was filled with events that drew concern about the behaviour of our MPs.

Speaker of the House, Gerry Brownlee, told Tim Beveridge that since there is now a party of reasonable size that wants to make cultural expressions that recognise their voters, they need to ask how that fits in.

He says there’s a lot of tension surrounding it, and they’re looking at ways in which they might formalise some aspects so that there isn’t the element of surprise or ambush.

Brownlee says that in the end, New Zealand has a very safe Parliament, and people shouldn’t lose sight of that.

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There’s multiple debuts happening at this weekend’s SailGP regatta.

Not only is it Auckland’s hosting debut, but it’s also the first time the new high-speed titanium T-Foils will be seen in action, having been trialled for the last two years.

Nat Fortier, SailGP’s Global Director of Communications, told Tim Beveridge that the last speed record was under 100kph an hour, but now they’re seeing the boats hit just over 100kph.

She says they’re all hoping they’ll see that kind of speed out on the water this weekend.

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