The ATEA-1 Rocket has just launched on Great Mercury Island after delays this morning.
Watch extended video of the launch
"In the tradition of great New Zealand explorers, New Zealand, we are 'go' for space," Peter Beck said moments before the launch.
As ATEA-1 blasted into the sky, Mr Beck could not contain his ecstasy.
"You f***in' beauty! Yes! Yes! She's still burning!" 22 seconds and we are home free to space!"
"It's the best feeling I've had in the world," he said. "She's away, we heard the booster burn for a good 22 seconds. As long as she held together we are space home free.
"It's a decade and a half's work to push that button, and she flew, she flew beauty."
Earlier today the launch had been aborted due to an aerocoupler freezing. The aerocoupler is used to connect the fuel line to the rocket.
A helicopter was scrambled from the launch site at Great Mercury Island to Whitianga to collect a spare part from a local engineering supplier and the rocket was able to launch.
The company behind the ATEA-1 rocket started up three years ago with the aim to develop a series of rockets that would make space more accessible, company director Mark Rocket said last week.
"This is the first step in a long journey," he said.
Atea is the Maori word for space as the team wanted an indigenous name for the rockets.
The first rocket Atea-1 has been named Manu Karere by the local Thames iwi, which means Bird Messenger.
The small rocket was expected to travel at Mach 5 to an altitude of 120 kilometres - 20km on from where space starts - then return to Earth in a sub-orbital ballistic arc, to be recovered from the sea.
The cost of the project has been mainly met through private investment from Rocket Lab, although it has received some funding from the Government and a number of agencies around New Zealand.
3 News / NZPA