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Tahaki National Air and Space Centre on the Ketoret Spit.
photo: Provided/Delivered to National Aeronautics and Space Center
NASA says it has not heard of any interest from the US Space Force in launching rockets from the Kettleret Spit in Canterbury.
This is despite the US saying it needs to use launch pads in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre, a Crown-Tribal joint venture based on the Spit, is in talks with international companies to assess launch requirements.
The company has previously said it might work with the “right partner” Construction of multiple launch pads on a sand spit south of Christchurch.
A business case for this scenario is due by the end of this year.
But NASA said it has not had any form of contact with the U.S. Space Force regarding Ketorret.
The agency, which is part of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said: “We do not have the power or resources to lead collaboration between other space sector organisations in New Zealand and their potential customers.”
New Zealand is looking for commercial opportunities to escape an intensifying military space race between the United States and China between now and 2027, government documents show.
U.S. Congress Report ordered in 2023 Regarding the ability of Five Eyes partners to “rapidly” launch satellites for the Pentagon. “Rapid” launch refers to a quick launch in an emergency or war situation.
The Department of Defense has also adopted a new strategy to invest billions of dollars in more private-sector space contracts for the United States and its approved partner nations.
“This has potential for the New Zealand space sector as Defence seeks to expand its use of commercial solutions,” the New Zealand government said in a briefing.
In April, the New Zealand government told the US it welcomed the strategy “and was interested in understanding how New Zealand’s commercial space providers could support this approach”.
The New Zealand Defence Force notes that it is almost entirely dependent on space assets owned by other countries, but is also eager to acquire more of its own space assets.
Despite this, the New Zealand National Space Agency said it had “no engagement with the United States Space Force, the United States Department of Defense or the New Zealand Defence Force at the time of the launch from Tawaiki”.
It added that unlike many other countries, New Zealand’s local space sector was primarily commercial rather than government-led.
“We … publicise widely the capabilities of New Zealand’s space sector and the advantages of launching from New Zealand.”
The agency’s mission includes advising Space Secretary Judith Collins on regulations and promoting research and development and investment.
It does discuss payload license applications with the Pentagon — several U.S. spy satellites have been launched from Mahia — and regularly engages with a range of U.S. agencies on international space policy.
As for Tāwhaki’s business case, “it is up to Tāwhaki to decide who to negotiate with during this process”, the space agency said in a statement.
RNZ has questioned the Defence Force about its space activities, most recently at the request of the US to set up an unclassified satellite monitoring team in Auckland.
The space agency’s deputy administrator, Andrew Johnson, did not agree to an interview request.
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