a separate strategy released in April to modernize the country\u2019s military<\/a>, with nine billion New Zealand dollars of new funding pledged over the next four years. That would include \u201ctargeted investments\u201d in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; secure communications; navigation and precision targeting.<\/p>\nA specific plan for the defense space sector will be released in the next six months, she said. \u201cIt will set out how we will grow and sustain a space industry that supports defense capability and contributes to innovation and export opportunities,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n
That effort would serve one of the goals of the space strategy, which is to develop space capabilities for an unspecified \u201cnational space mission\u201d. Other goals in the strategy include advancing regulatory reforms, increasing trade and investment, building up the country\u2019s aerospace workforce and promoting innovation.<\/p>\n
At the two-day conference, industry and government officials highlighted efforts that include updates to regulations for aerospace activities, such as licensing for experimental vehicles. While primarily intended to support advanced aviation activities like drones, it has also assisted Dawn Aerospace, a New Zealand company that has flown its Aurora suborbital spaceplane there.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s low population density and access to relatively uncongested aerospace is a key factor for growing the industry. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any near neighbors. We have an environment where we can have the high cadence of launches, which not many others can do,\u201d Collins said in an interview after her speech.<\/p>\n
The industry has a reputation for innovation, she added, that helps it stand out. \u201cIf I take someone like Peter Beck of Rocket Lab, a home-grown New Zealand engineer now responsible essentially for us being the third in the world for successful vertical launches, I reckon we have a place\u201d in the global market, she said.<\/p>\n
The growth is not without challenges. At the conference, industry officials cited issues like limited access to domestic capital that requires companies to look beyond New Zealand for funding beyond early-stage rounds. There is also a limited workforce trained in specific skills needed by the aerospace industry.<\/p>\n
Collins cited in the interview initiatives to make it easier for \u201chighly qualified\u201d people in the space sector outside New Zealand to work in the country, as well as aerospace training programs at universities in the country. The government also recently established Invest New Zealand, an agency charged with increasing foreign investment in domestic companies.<\/p>\n
The growth of the space industry could focus more scrutiny on it. Outside the convention center hosting the summit, dozens of protestors gathered. Flyers posted in town ahead of the conference announced plans to \u201cblockade\u201d the conference, although access to the event for attendees was unimpeded.<\/p>\n
Some of the protestors focused their opposition specifically on what they perceived to be direct support for Israel in Gaza using New Zealand-supplied capabilities. Others said they were concerned that a growing New Zealand role in space could make the country a target.<\/p>\n
Collins dismissed the protestors in the interview as the \u201cusual suspects who turn up at every single event we do,\u201d and said that the aerospace industry had strong public support, particularly given its growth potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they realize how big it is, what the wages are, what the opportunities are,\u201d she said of the public\u2019s perception of the space industry, \u201cthey\u2019re very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
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