There were bemused chuckles emanating from the press gallery when the new coalition government announced Judith Collins as the country’s first-ever Minister for Space.
Space is one of several interrelated portfolios the veteran National MP has been laden with (defence, GCSB, NZSIS, science, innovation and technology, and digitising government being the other ones). In addition, Collins is also serving as the country’s 34th attorney-general and Lead Co-ordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques.
It’s a daunting workload. Amidst dealing with litigation involving the government, national security issues and a looming revamp of our research sector, there may not be much space on Collins’ agenda for, well, space.
But National signalled the creation of the portfolio in the release of its space policy a few weeks out from the election. Its reasoning for elevating the status of this developing area of the economy was sound.
Space tech is one of the fastest-growing high-tech industries in the world, as constellations of small satellites are launching to provide broadband services and remote sensing capabilities to monitor the planet. Global management consulting firm McKinsey estimates it will be close to becoming a US$1 trillion business by 2030. In 2019, the space sector was estimated to directly contribute around $900 million to New Zealand’s economy and support around 5000 jobs, according to businessman Kevin Jenkins, previously a founding board member at Aerospace Auckland. He adds at its current growth rate, it will double in size by the end of the decade.
Kiwis may know about Rocket Lab, one of the only companies other than Elon Musk’s SpaceX that is launching small satellites into space on a regular basis. But less well known is the cluster of companies that have emerged in aerospace and space tech in this country in recent years.
They include Christchurch start-up Dawn Aerospace, which is developing and testing the Aurora uncrewed suborbital space plane with the aim of delivering satellites into low Earth orbit, before landing the plane back on a runway, creating a taxi service to space in the process.
In early December, Auckland company Zenno Astronautics deployed its superconducting electromagnet technology into orbit from a SpaceX rocket. Zenno has come up with an innovative way to position satellites using a magnetic field rather than fuel. Its trial of the technology in space could prove the case for a new way of designing satellites.
Space tech, and associated innovation in the aerospace sector in New Zealand, represents an area of economic opportunity, skills development and pioneering innovation that epitomises the late, great scientist Sir Paul Callaghan’s plea for New Zealand to “get off the grass” and embrace science and tech-driven industries.
As with Wellywood and our world-leading America’s Cup yacht designs, we never set out to be a world leader in space tech. Former economic development minister Steven Joyce recounts in his recently published autobiography, On the Record that he and government officials had to scramble in 2015 to create the legislation to allow Rocket Lab, now a US-owned company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, to start launching rockets from the Māhia Peninsula.
The Airspace Integration Trials programme, set up in 2019, allowed for testing of experimental aircraft in New Zealand airspace and attracted the likes of Wisk, which trialled its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft in Canterbury.
But as we gained a toehold in the space industry, and a reputation as a testbed for new technology, the rest of the world started to catch up. At least a dozen other countries now have space programmes and are tipping significant government dollars into developing their national industries.
With satellites offering an important new platform for research into climate change and environmental monitoring, and with geopolitical tensions rising, every developed country wants at least some capability in this area.
National’s policy on space involves revamping regulations to streamline the process of gaining approval for rocket launches. It will also approve two additional testing areas to encourage innovation in space tech. All of that makes sense if we want to capitalise on the pioneering work the industry has done in the past decade.
Writing in BusinessDesk last month, Warren Couillault, chair and chief executive of Hobson Wealth, hit the nail on the head when he suggested the country needs to channel our resources into a few target areas where we have a competitive edge.
“By having a focused strategy, we could gear state-funded research, export funding and even education systems toward a small number of high-priority industries and areas,” wrote Couillault.
“And for those of you who fear that this feels like Muldoonism all over again, it is not. It is about focusing government spending on areas that we believe NZ can build up scale and have a competitive advantage.”
For too long we’ve been drifting, throwing a lot of money into research and development but not seeing satisfactory returns on the investment. If we are serious about pursuing the opportunity in space, we need to double down on our efforts and make it a priority.
Having a Space Minister in the Cabinet therefore makes a lot of sense as it elevates the status of one of our most promising sectors for the crucial next stage of its development.
