Industry and innovation

Discover the people and projects shaping our future, from pioneering startups to world-class research institutions. Learn about funding opportunities, success stories, and the programmes supporting cutting-edge R&D. Whether you're part of the industry or just curious, explore how New Zealand is making its mark in space.

New Zealand’s space sector is home to pioneering companies such as Rocket Lab with the world’s first private orbital launch site on the Mahia Peninsula, Dawn Aerospace – who recently broke the record for the fastest ascent of an aircraft to 20km altitude, and Zenno Astronautics – on a mission to revolutionise movement in space using superconducting magnetic systems. We’ve also partnered with global leaders like the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to advance Earth observation, propulsion systems, and space communications.

Emerging strengths and future focus

New Zealand is unlocking new opportunities in areas where it has unique advantages:

• Deployable systems – developing space-saving spacecraft components
• Ground infrastructure – leveraging New Zealand’s unique geography
• Advanced manufacturing building on a long heritage in composites and early adoption of additive manufacturing technologies
• Earth sciences research – with world-class calibration and validation sites building on New Zealand’s long heritage of environmental research over a range of disciplines
• High-temperature superconductors
• Cryogenics and cold-environment electronics 

Whether you're a startup, researcher, or global enterprise, New Zealand offers a collaborative and forward-thinking environment to innovate in space. Explore how we can support your journey into the final frontier.

Sector snapshot: Economic growth and impact

In 2025, MBIE released the New Zealand Space and Advanced Aviation Sector Economic Report, produced by Deloitte Access Economics and Space Trailblazer. The report highlights the rapid growth and economic significance of these sectors:

• Space sector: Contributes approximately NZD $2.5 billion annually to the economy and supports around 17,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.
• Advanced aviation sector: Adds about NZD $500 million annually (some of this value crosses over with the space sector), with around 3,700 FTE positions, and is poised for significant growth as new technologies are adopted .

The report also underscores the sectors’ high levels of innovation, export intensity, and research activity taking place in New Zealand and the high performance of this industry.

These findings reinforce the government’s goal, outlined in the New Zealand Space and Advanced Aviation Strategy, to double the size of the sectors by 2030. The strategy and report together provide a roadmap for sustainable growth, international engagement, and technological leadership.

New Zealand Space and Advanced Aviation Strategy

Read the report: 

Innovation for growth: Charting the space and advanced aviation sectors [PDF, 4.7 MB]