![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/spaceops-awarua-2-jpg.webp\")
Many of the antennas are housed inside of domes to protect them from the elements. Credit: Stephen Jaquiery\/ODT. <\/p>\nA space company operating at opposite ends of the country is taking off in the corporate world, but has no plans for a policy on military activity.<\/p>\n
SpaceOps runs a ground station at Awarua, south of Invercargill, plus Warkworth Space Centre, north of Auckland.<\/p>\n
Its core business is hosting antennas for clients connecting to spacecraft, with big name users including aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin, Norway\u2019s KSAT\u00a0and Italy\u2019s Leaf Space.<\/p>\n
But company chief executive and founder Robin McNeill has revealed there is no policy in place for accepting or undertaking work connected to military activity \u2014 despite the company being a subsidiary of regional development agency Great South.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got enough other things to do without spending ages developing a policy that we don\u2019t need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr McNeill is the brains behind SpaceOps and the 2024 recipient of the inaugural Prime Minister\u2019s Space Prize for Professional Excellence.<\/p>\n
Work began at Awarua in 2004 following a \u20ac200,000 injection from the European Space Agency, he explained, and the site has since expanded to cover 32ha, all paid for by profits.<\/p>\n
The company employs 11 staff across Awarua and Warkworth, and construction is under way on a new $4.55 million headquarters at the southern site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re globally important. We\u2019re very important for spacecraft that are in what\u2019s called \u2018low-earth orbit\u2019,\u201d Mr McNeill said.<\/p>\n
Many of the antennas are housed inside of domes to protect them from the elements. Credit: Stephen Jaquiery\/ODT. <\/p>\n
Despite the company\u2019s growth and profitability \u2014 it is expected to turnover about $5m this year alone \u2014 Mr McNeill said\u00a0the inclusion of military in its statement of intent would be \u201ctoo hard\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolicies are always tricky \u2026 I don\u2019t think it would affect how we operate, is the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got staff who would walk out on me if we went down a military route.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr McNeill gave examples of how SpaceOps was inextricably linked to that world, such as a contract with LINZ which involved locating the North and South Pole to within 1mm, twice a week.<\/p>\n
That information was vital to all satellites, including those used for GPS, which is itself a US military product.<\/p>\n
SpaceOps worked with Lockheed Martin as part of a SouthPAN project, with Mr McNeill acknowledging the company did satellite based augmentation systems, but also made fighter jets.<\/p>\n
There was also the grey world of \u201cduel-use\u201d, with Mr McNeill explaining many European and American spacecraft could be financially backed by both the commercial and military worlds, \u201cand it\u2019s hard to know what happens\u201d.<\/p>\n
With no policy in place, responsibility rested with Mr McNeill to make a call on jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a problem. I don\u2019t want to have to go to prison,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr McNeill confirmed SpaceOps had assisted with a covert operation related to security for the New Zealand Defence Force, but also noted his company mainly lived in the corporate world, and military did not consider civilian operations safe.<\/p>\n
Discussions with the board was an option if there was something \u201chairy\u201d, but that had not been required, he said.<\/p>\n
SpaceOps was incorporated in 2016 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great South, which is funded by Southland\u2019s four councils.<\/p>\n
Local Democracy Reporting asked Great South if it was concerned the company did not have a policy for the kind of jobs it accepts.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Chami Abeysinghe \u2014 who is on the SpaceOps board \u2014 said it was aware it needed to comply with Radio Spectrum Management, acts, treaties\u00a0and other requirements.<\/p>\n
SpaceOps\u2019 statement of intent says it supports and advocates for the peaceful use of space, noting it is a signatory of the Washington Compact and compliant with various Acts and international space treaties.<\/p>\n
The statement also included the company\u2019s four lines of business: hosting satellite ground stations on behalf of customers, leasing its own ground stations, undertaking space geodesy and radio astronomy observations, and providing technical expertise to the space community.<\/p>\n
In September, a hearing was held at Invercargill City Council after Calder Stewart objected to a request from SpaceOps to create land and air space next to its Awarua site.<\/p>\n
The rich-list Stewart family is developing a large industrial area near the site which will include a windfarm.<\/p>\n
Information prepared for the hearing showed SpaceOps held over 700 radio licences, with indications Awarua supported \u201cwell over\u201d that amount of spacecraft and satellite constellations.<\/p>\n
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A space company operating at opposite ends of the country is taking off in the corporate world, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-648325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648325","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=648325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}