A rocket launch pad at Kaitorete, south of Christchurch, now has a feasibility study behind it. Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre and French company SpaceDreamS released a joint feasibility study on 30 September that found the site “technically and operationally suitable for vertical launch”.
The study is pitched at Europe. According to Tāwhaki’s release, it found European launch companies need more than one spaceport to manage the risks and delays caused by weather, technical problems and geopolitics. A Southern Hemisphere site would give them that.
SpaceDreamS describes itself on its website as a spaceport maker. Its main product is NuPad, a modular launch pad designed to take more than one type of rocket.
Christian Canart, chief executive and founder of SpaceDreamS, said in the 30 September release that the result gives the partners a footing to keep going.
“We now have a credible long-term framework to continue building towards launch capabilities outside Europe, at a centre that can cater for small and heavy launchers, and with capabilities to support rapid technology development and testing,” Christian said.
John Holt, acting chief executive of Tāwhaki, described the project in the same release as “about long-term resilience, sovereign capability, and future aerospace infrastructure development”.
What’s been agreed so far
The study is as far as it goes for now. Tāwhaki’s release says it “opens the door to the next phase of commercial, regulatory, and partnership work”, and that both organisations are now in talks with government agencies, institutional partners, industry and potential investors across Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The release names no cost, construction date or launch customer.
Money is the open question. RNZ reported on 5 August that the Government had all but ruled out further capital investment in the near term. An April briefing to Space Minister Chris Penk, released under the Official Information Act and quoted by RNZ, put it this way.
“It is likely some government co-investment would be expected by vertical launch operators considering establishing launch activities at Tāwhaki.”
John told RNZ that “less than five” European companies were interested, and that he expected overseas investment could establish a rocket test pad within two years. Chris told RNZ the Government had put $35m into Tāwhaki since 2021.
Europe already has one formal foothold at Kaitorete. In March, Tāwhaki signed a five-year agreement with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) to run as “sister centres”, with shared work on uncrewed aircraft trials, environmental research and workforce training. That deal covers aviation research rather than rocket launch.
Who owns Kaitorete
Kaitorete is the 25km spit that encloses Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere. Project Tāwhaki began in 2021 as a joint venture between the Crown and Kaitorete Limited, the company formed by Te Taumutu Rūnanga and Wairewa Rūnanga. According to Te Waihora Co-Governance, the Crown contributed $16m to buy about 1,000ha, and the Crown and the rūnanga each own 50% of the land and the project.
The 30 September release says any launch design would follow kaitiakitanga, which means minimising pollutants and favouring low-emission propellants.
Licences before liftoff
Before any rocket leaves Kaitorete, the Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017 requires three separate approvals. The site operator needs a facility licence, each launch needs a launch licence, and each satellite or other payload needs a payload permit. The Minister can grant a facility licence only once satisfied the operator is technically capable and has taken all reasonable steps to manage public safety. The Minister can also decline one on national interest grounds.
Some of the groundwork is already in place. The site has a 1km sealed runway, a hangar called Whaitiri and permanent Special Use Airspace, which took effect on 7 August 2025 and gives Tāwhaki six Restricted Areas and six Danger Areas it activates as needed. Tāwhaki’s release says vertical launch would sit alongside these, with room to add manufacturing and testing of launch technology on site.
The next step sits with investors. Tāwhaki and SpaceDreamS are taking the study to potential backers in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and no application for a facility licence has been announced.
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