synthetic cannabis \u201cKronic King\u201d Matthew Wielenga<\/a> as its sole owner and director, if not involved in the business day-to-day.<\/p>\nGrace \u2013 a former director of one of Auckland\u2019s most successful deep-tech start-ups, Qantifi Photonics, sold to Nasdaq-listed Teradyne) \u2013 became general manager in 2020 and bought out Wielenga in 2024. She will stay with the business for a couple of months of transition then \u201cstep back towards retirement\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to reinvent the business. It\u2019s been really well set up by Heather,\u201d Jordan says. The focus will be on expansion.<\/p>\n
Blue-chip customers<\/p>\n
Grace said revenue had increased 490% since 2020. <\/p>\n
From what base? The privately held company doesn\u2019t reveal any of its financials.<\/p>\n
It can name some of its marquee customers, many secured through a decade-long partnership with US satellite manufacturer Lanteris Space Systems \u2013 bought by Nasdaq-listed Intuitive Machines for US$800 million ($1.4 billion) in January.<\/p>\n
Zenith has supplied critical structural components for a range of satellite and spaceflight programmes. These include Nasa\u2019s Psyche mission, currently en route to the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche (the satellite involved took off on a SpaceX Falcon9 launch in 2023 and is due to arrive at 16 Psyche in July 2029 after a one billion km journey).<\/p>\n
And we\u2019re not talking a couple of bolts. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese are large structural components that help hold a spacecraft together,\u201d growth manager Morgan Worthington says.<\/p>\n
![\"Beyond]()
Beyond its satellite business, Zenith has developed a partnership with High-Performance Sport NZ to create prosthetic attachments for Paralympic athletes, and works closely with Christchurch orthopaedic implant company Ossis to create personalised artificial joints.<\/p>\n
Another customer is the US Space Development Agency (part of Space Force) for its Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 Tracking Layer constellation programme \u2013 the \u201ceyes\u201d of a new US missile-tracking and defence system, the first stage of which is due to become operational later this year. It has 35 satellites already in orbit. (It\u2019s also one of Rocket Lab\u2019s biggest contracts as a prime contractor.)<\/p>\n
US firm Maxar Space Systems was chosen to design and produce 18 satellites for the next phase of the Tracking Layer project and, in turn, subcontracted Zenith. <\/p>\n
For Worthington, it shows that the Kiwi company \u2013 though barely a decade old \u2013 is considered a trusted old hand. Maxar was also Zenith\u2019s first major aerospace customer with a 2016 contract for parts for five double-decker bus-sized satellites.<\/p>\n
![\"One]()
One of Zenith’s first customers was the US-based Maxar Technologies, a maker of “mega satellites” each the size of a double-decker bus.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the medical half of the business, which is also global.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do orthopaedic implants. It\u2019s custom to a patient\u2019s skeleton, not off the shelf,\u201d Worthington says. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur customer designs a part, sends us the files and we print it over the weekend, then send the part and it can be implanted shortly after that. It\u2019s a really fast turnaround for critical surgeries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zenith also developed a partnership with High-Performance Sport NZ to create prosthetic attachments for Paralympic athletes.<\/p>\n
And it also makes titanium surgical instruments.<\/p>\n
EBM additive manufacturing is a step up from a 3D printer you might pick up from Noel Leeming. <\/p>\n
Zenith has a half dozen GE Additive Arcam EBM machines, built in Sweden. They sell for the best part of $2m. <\/p>\n
![\"Zenith's]()
Zenith’s sample cranial implant. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n
An electron beam melts titanium powder \u2013 imported from Canada at a cost that can exceed $1000 per kg \u2013 in a process involving temperatures of more than 1600C. A part is then printed in layers, each just 50 nanometres thick (1 nanometre is a millionth of a metre).<\/p>\n
Zenith, with its six machines (and 18 staff) is one of the largest EBM manufacturing providers in the world, Jordan says.<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/p>\n
It\u2019s an area that involves both technical and compliance challenges, which has kept competition thin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working in a highly regulated space. We can build what others can\u2019t,\u201d Jordan says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re saving lives with patient-matched implants and we\u2019ve got parts zooming around in orbit on satellites, all made here in Auckland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald\u2019s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cambridge-based Jordan is currently Oceania processing director for Tetra Pak. He\u2019ll take a hands-on role at Zenith…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[51,259198,5821,1138,5760,71,192593,13106,3323,117,111,139,1536,69,9769,3169,17711,53959,4029,16610,147,392,259197,1361,39127,8238,14605,229154],"class_list":["post-523432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-auckland","tag-bung","tag-everything","tag-firm","tag-force","tag-from","tag-hips","tag-maker","tag-nasa","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-owners","tag-ownership","tag-parts","tag-prints","tag-satellite","tag-satellites","tag-science","tag-space","tag-tecnica","tag-that","tag-titanium","tag-under","tag-whats","tag-zenith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}