Second rate staff given a rocket perhaps (8)
I believe the answer is:
spaceman
'a rocket perhaps' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'second rate staff given' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'rate' becomes 'pace' (pace is a kind of rate).
'staff' becomes 'man' (as in staffing or manning a particular place).
'given' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
's'+'pace'+'man'='SPACEMAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spaceman that I've seen before include "Armstrong, perhaps?" , "NASA PC, me! (anag)" , "Armstrong, say" , "Distant traveller" , "Astronaut" .)