Spring is here - and so is the September newsletter!
Just when we think Space can’t get any busier, we have a month like August, more launches, more records set and more opportunities appearing for us all.
Speaking of busy months, IAC2025 is almost upon us!
If you are attending let your editor know; it would be great to meet any of our subscribers in and around the NZ Inc. activity at the event. Your editor also knows where to find the best IPA at Darling Harbour… follow him for more valuable Sydney insights.
Now read on for all the latest news from Dunedin to the Cosmos…
+ scroll down for more of your usual dose of highlights, podcasts, and media recommendations
BREAKING NEWS: BIG WIN FOR SPACE IN THE SOUTH!
Southland’s space sector will be taking a giant leap forward thanks to a $2.25 million boost from the Regional Infrastructure Fund. This funding will fast-track the expansion of Space Operations New Zealand at the Awarua Satellite Ground Station near Invercargill 📡 - Robin and Space Ops are having an incredible year!
This really demonstrates that Southland is perfectly positioned to support global satellite missions and sets the stage for a thriving regional space hub, putting the South firmly on the map in the NZ and global space races.
OTAGO SNAPSHOT
Our regular feature, highlighting key researchers and research foci at the University of Otago Last month we looked at the work of Dr Tim Molteno, a senior lecturer in the Department of Physics, and his incredible work in multiple African nations with Transient Array Radio Telescope installations. This month we wanted to feature a very entertaining interview with Tim on Radio New Zealand about the project.
WE HAVE MERCH!
Our much promised (and eagerly awaited) Aero+Space South T-shirts and Hoodies have hit campus, just in time for the conference season.
Modelled by Dr Alba Suarez Garcia from the University of Otago’s Schools Liaison Team, here is the first iteration of merch. Featuring our beautiful southern mountains and the Southern Cross, you will bring a great southern class to your next space event. Available in any colour you like (as long as you only like black - though it’s a cool tech-entrepreneur shade of black).
Show your support for the South's space cluster:
T-shirts $28 / Hoodies $58
Contact your editor or any or the Aero+Space South team to get one.
NEWS ROUNDUP What's been happening at home?
As usual Rocket Lab has had a busy month
And now across the Tasman...
And now on around the world…
UPCOMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
READING LIST
Just in case you needed a book that documented every UFO sighting in New Zealand history – there is now a book to satisfy that need. Published in 2024, New Zealand Through the Years: UFOs and Aliens in New Zealand by Moira McGhee certainly packs in a lot of sighting stories.
It was an interesting yet exhausting read and your editor will certainly look at the Aotearoa skies with a new sense of incredulity from now on.
SPACE QUOTE OF THE MONTH "I think if you go on the internet there's almost as many pictures of the moon as there are of cats"
Jeremy Fix Chief Engineer of iSpace US [showing a picture of the moon taken by iSpace's Resilience lander during a session of the spring meeting of the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium]
SPACE PODCAST OF THE MONTH
This month a much lighter podcast, with the wonderful sci-fi author Andy Weir describing how he came to write his first great novel, The Martian.
SpaceBusiness@Otago is a regular newsletter produced by the Research & Enterprise Team at the University of Otago and Aero+Space South, the aerospace cluster in Otago/Southland thought-led by the team. It is designed to be a summary of interesting articles, links and updates on research and business opportunities in the wider New Zealand and global space sector.
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