KEY POINTS:
A couple of old baked bean tins have helped to secure a partnership between Southland and the European Space Agency.
Work starts in January on a high-tech tracking station which will be built at Awarua near Invercargill.
Venture Southland Enterprise projects manger Robin McNeill said the station woudl help keep tabs on unmanned rockets sent to the international space station.
He said the Europeans needed to monitor a tricky manoeuvre the rockets would perform as they passed over Stewart Island.
Mr McNeill's pitch for the contract included using a couple of tins with highly engineered attachments to show how successful the Awarua station could be.
- NEWSTALK ZB
