Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing, bonus story of the week.

Today on Forbes, Rocket Labs founder Peter Beck

just became the world's newest space billionaire.

Shares of Long Beach, California-based Rocket Lab USA

closed in an all-time high last Friday,

boosting the fortune of the firm's New Zealand-born

founder and CEO, Peter Beck, to an estimated $1 billion for the first time, according to Forbes'

estimates.

The company, which develops and launches rockets, satellites and other spacecraft for government

and commercial customers, has seen its stock

soar by more than 300% over the last year.

Beck's 10% stake is now worth nearly $970 million.

Plus, he is estimated to have nearly $65 million from selling shares of the company over

the years. Rocket Labs' stock jumped by nearly 30% November 13th alone, after the company made three big

announcements.

First, a record revenue forecast of $125 to $135 million for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Second, a multi-launch agreement with a commercial satellite constellation operator

for a larger, more fully reusable launch vehicle called Neutron

that Rocket Lab has been developing since 2021.

And third, a proposal with NASA to retrieve samples from Mars and return them to Earth.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Shepard notes that Rocket Lab is already the third most

frequent orbital launcher globally behind SpaceX and the Chinese government.

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