First Kiwi Space Activator projects announced

Dawn Aerospace, the University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland have been awarded a total of $1.48 million for their projects in round one of the two-round scheme.

Successful round one recipients and their funding allocations are:

• Dawn Aerospace for their Hōpara project to build and fly a small satellite, $600,000  
• University of Canterbury for their demonstration of biological microgravity experimentation on a spaceplane, $600,000
• University of Auckland for their CubeSat TPA-2 hosting a group of curated New Zealand payloads, $283,827 

The pilot programme is a stepping stone, providing an opportunity to test new technologies and build the capability needed for a national space mission in the future, which is an objective of the Government’s Space and Advanced Aviation Strategy. 

Owing to the high calibre of applications received, total funding across rounds one and two was increased from $1.8 million to $2.08 million.

An international and domestic panel from across government, research institutes and the private sector oversaw the selection process.

The New Zealand Space Agency is administering the pilot programme. Applications are currently open for round two and close at 11:59pm on 25 May 2026.

Information about the panellists, criteria, and recipients is available on the Kiwi Space Activator page.

Kiwi Space Activator