The team at Great South's Awarua Space station are getting ready to play an important part in a space launch happening in New Zealand. 

Peter Beck’s Rocket Lab company in the North Island will launch 30 satellites 500 kilometres into space tomorrow (Monday November 16) at 3pm.

A part of that launch is a satellite known as APSS-1.

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It looks like a small black cube that can fit easily into two hands, but it has the capability of transmitting a huge amount of scientific data back down to earth.

With a probe attached, it will collect data that may be able to help predict earthquakes.

APSS-1 was designed and built by University of Auckland students and is the first satellite sent to orbit by a New Zealand university.

The team at Awarua Satellite Ground Station then have been tasked with the important job of communicating with the satellite and monitoring its health.

The APSS-1 was designed and built by Auckland University students. PHOTO: Supplied.

Engineering and ground station manager Robin McNeill said his team would also extract science data from APSS-1.

“All going well, we’ll communicate with the spacecraft for up to eight minutes at a time, six times per day over that time,” he said.

They should also have the ability to optimise the conditions onboard the spacecraft, he said.

Rocket Lab would send the precise location details so antennas at Great South’s Awarua Satellite Ground Station could be pointed in the right direction.

“We’ll have an eight-minute window to capture the satellite beacon 45 minutes later when APSS-1 goes over Awarua.”

The work with the satellite, which is owned by the University of Auckland’s Programme for Space Systems, could last for months or a few years, depending on when the satellite naturally goes out of orbit.

While the lift-off is planned for Monday, there is a two-week window in case the launch has to be rescheduled due to unfavourable weather conditions.