Southland is sending a signal to the space industry with a new standalone company.

Great South is launching its highly successful satellite communications business into a separate entity, Space Operations New Zealand Ltd, from tomorrow, October 1.

The business operates a ground station at Awarua, Southland, where it hosts 35 antennas owned by small space companies and civilian agencies.

New Zealand's only commercial low Earth orbit satellite ground station, it enables spacecraft to be commanded and data downloaded from satellites.

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"Essentially, without us you’ve got a flying brick," says Space Operations NZ CEO Robin McNeill.

The satellites are used for all manner of purposes, including tracking shipping containers, measuring the atmosphere, imaging the earth, calibrating satellite navigation systems and providing internet services.

Space Operations NZ owns its own antenna Awarua, which it leases to satellite operators. And it is building another to keep up with demand.

In addition, Space Operations NZ provides downrange support for international launch companies, including Rocket Lab.

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Southland is ideally located for satellite ground stations, given its proximity to the South Pole, flat land with excellent horizon sightlines and lack of radio interference.

The business has undergone exponential growth in recent years, McNeill says.

Awarua, between Invercargill and Bluff, has gone from hosting 24 antennas before Covid-19 hit, to 35 now, and by mid next year there will be 42 on site.

"We will have at least five new antennas installed before the end of this year and we continue to field enquiries from companies in this rapidly growing global sector.”

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Future opportunities for Space Operations New Zealand include building further ground station sites in New Zealand and potentially internationally.

"We have built an excellent international reputation and the longer we work with the space community, the more opportunities present themselves, so we’re excited to now have more ability to develop the options and commercialise some of our research and development."

Space Operations NZ is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southland Regional Development Agency, a CCO trading as Great South.

The Awarua Satellite Ground Station opened in 2008, built by Venture South (which later became Great South) in conjunction with the European and French Space Agencies, to support ESA's resupply missions to the International Space Station.

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The company has its own office at 62 Deveron Street and now has five engineers on staff, including two postgraduate students from the University of Canterbury rocketry research group, which has had a close relationship with Great South.

Customers include Planet Labs, the European Space Agency, the French Space Agency, CNES, Rocket Lab, Kepler Space, and Spire Global.