New Zealand's Defence Minister Judith Collins [Source: Reuters]

The grassy plains on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, once home to cattle, have been transformed into a key aerospace facility for the Pacific nation as it looks to become a global hub for advanced aircraft and space exploration.

New Zealand is inviting aerospace firms from around the world to set up at the new Tawhaki National Aerospace Centre on the Kaitorete spit, a 25 kilometre (15.5 mile) long and 3km wide coastal site.

The centre, in which the government has to date invested NZ$29.4 million ($17.97 million), is part of an ambitious plan to turn the country’s nascent aerospace sector into a significant contributor to the agriculturally dependent economy. There is little air traffic over the spit, launches over water minimise risk from falling debris, and a latitude deep in the Southern Hemisphere makes it easier to place satellites in specific orbits.

“You cannot underestimate our location in the world and how that is an enormous advantage,” said Judith Collins, who became the country’s first space minister after the government was elected in October 2023.

Globally the space and aerospace industries are growing fast; there were 50% more commercial space launches in 2023 than a year earlier, according to the U.S. Space Foundation.

Three industry experts said New Zealand’s location gives it a leg up as it tries to muscle deeper into the more than $600 billion global market. The country hosted seven rocket launches last year, the fourth-most globally, all by the U.S.-listed and New Zealand-founded Rocket Lab (RKLB.O), opens new tab.

The success of the $2.07 billion company, which has launched 44 rockets in New Zealand since 2017, has helped develop a space technology sector that includes the likes of titanium 3D printer Zenith Technica.

But New Zealand is still a small player, even relative to its neighbours, with Australia’s space sector worth around A$5 billion ($3.33 billion) annually and Japan’s worth $27 billion.

New Zealand’s space industry was worth roughly NZ$1.7 billion ($1.04 billion) in 2019 – the latest data available – and the government wants to grow the aerospace industry to NZ$10 billion by 2030, offering a needed jolt to an economy that is in recession and struggling from weak productivity.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.