Round 1 funding recipients

Leveraging New Zealand's globally-leading aerospace capabilities of University of Canterbury, Dawn Aerospace, Intranel, and Asteria Engineering, our programme will provide the first demonstration of biological microgravity experimentation on a spaceplane launched from a conventional runway, proving the value of our platform and paving the way for future commercial opportunities. Over our five-flight test campaign, we will validate a world-first, fully-autonomous, spaceplane-based research platform for short-duration biotech and pharmaceutical experimentation in microgravity. The successful test flights will spearhead  the development of an entirely new commercial sector of the microgravity economy focussed on high-cadence, short-duration microgravity services and establish a pathway for future flight campaigns, both in New Zealand and across Dawn's global spaceplane launch sites. This programme will also demonstrate a major paradigm shift for space-based microgravity testing with a world-first option of providing multiple flights per day.  
 
Our initial flight test campaign will serve three specific purposes:

1. providing critical flight heritage of spaceplane-based payloads for short-duration pharmaceutical experimentation in microgravity,
2. providing a technology demonstration for future spaceplane-based microgravity testing platforms, and
3. proving the value of rapid flight cadence for iteration and analysis of microgravity experimentation.

As autonomous payload execution is critical for many microgravity payloads on free-flying satellites and space station platforms, our platform will provide unique opportunities for testing and rapidly validating and iterating autonomous subsystem designs prior to expensive and less-frequent, long-duration orbital flights across the global $1T USD space industry. Beyond providing testing capabilities, our platform will establish the first flights towards dedicated commercial service provision (via a UC-spin out company) of short-duration, high-frequency microgravity campaigns providing value for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, opening up novel revenue-generating opportunities across drug discovery, drug formulation, and biomedical applications serving the $1.7T USD global pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

In line with the Novel Space Component Challenge, Dawn Aerospace will build and fly a small satellite, named Hōpara, equipped with first-of-its-kind refuelling and propulsion technologies. This will demonstrate a new state-of-the-art of sustainable and more capable satellite transportation.  
 
The first goal of this mission is to demonstrate the capabilities of Dawn’s latest developments. This includes B1 thrusters with improved thermal resistance enabling unlimited burntime integrated in a cluster for precise corrections, radiation tolerant electronics to control all components required for complex 6 degrees-of-freedom manoeuvres, and a lightweight COPV tank carrying all propellant. Dawn will demonstrate complex manoeuvres with the satellite, gathering much data for characterisation the reliability of its components in orbit. This will allow Dawn to further improve the experience of their customers. 
 
The second objective is to demonstrate an in-orbit refuelling service. The final piece of new hardware aboard the satellite is a Docking and Fluid Transfer port. This novelty enables any satellite to replenish their tanks during their mission by a servicing spacecraft. Hōpara will serve as target for the refuelling operations of a servicer, launched alongside on the same flight. Refuelling is critical to tackle the growing space debris problem and is part of Dawn’s commitment to sustainability in space.

This demonstrator satellite will be built by Dawn Aerospace New-Zealand. Critical parts leverage the strong New Zealand ecosystem of suppliers. Communication and control of the satellite performed in partnership with SpaceOPS New Zealand.  
 
Dawn has been a pioneer in green satellite propulsion by introducing its turnkey propulsion systems on more than 40 satellites. With this mission, the New Zealand company will pave the way for the future sustainable operations of satellite transportation.

The TPA-2 mission, led by a highly experienced New Zealand team from University of Auckland’s Te Pūnaha Ātea - Space Institute (TPA-SI), aims to launch a 3U CubeSat to advance several key space technologies and national capabilities. Building on the success of the foundational TPA-1 mission launched in 2025, TPA-2 will host a diverse array of New Zealand-developed payloads selected from an open call from industry and academia, including a Highly Integrated Avionics (HIA) satellite systems suite, a Modular Maritime Domain Awareness Payload (MMDA-PO), an optical satellite beacon and a biological experiment platform.

This mission is a significant step towards strengthening New Zealand's sovereign space capabilities. It will demonstrate cutting-edge technologies for maritime domain awareness, improving our ability to detect vessels and enhance protection of fisheries. We will also advance on-orbit space situational awareness capabilities, providing critical data for tracking space objects. Furthermore, TPA-2 will showcase novel space components, fostering local innovation and reducing reliance on international providers. Beyond technology, TPA-2 has a strong outreach and education component, engaging students from high school, through undergraduate to Masters levels. The mission includes a dedicated Schools Payload, to inspire the next generation of space innovators. The mission will see students working alongside experienced professionals. This collaborative approach will accelerate the commercialisation of New Zealand space technologies, creating new opportunities for industry growth, workforce development, export potential and scientific research.