Rocket Lab co-founder's new HQ is part of Christchurch's $1b space push.
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Mark Rocket’s Kea Aerospace has opened its new Christchurch manufacturing and mission control facility - pitched as part of a drive to quadruple the city’s aerospace industry to $1 billion annual revenue and 1500 high-paying jobs by 2035.
Kea is developing the Atmos, an unmanned aerial vehicle the size of
a hang glider, designed to fly on solar power for weeks of aerial photography, marine surveillance and other applications.
Kea Aerospace's new manufacturing and mission control centre in Christchurch is more than five times the size of its original facility in the city.
The facility, opened by Defence and Space Minister Chris Penk, has been customised to support the development of the Kea Atmos Mark 2 - a 35m wingspan model that Kea co-founder Philipp Sueltrop says will be the largest uncrewed aircraft in the southern hemisphere. The firm’s previous HQ - also in Christchurch - was simply too small to accomodate the new design.
Kea Aerospace reached a major milestone when its Atmos Mk1b soared into the stratosphere for the first time in February 2025.AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
The site includes land for future expansion, with capacity to develop a large-scale manufacturing plant capable of producing “dozens of aircraft and ultimately hundreds for customers around the world”, Rocket said.
A defining feature of the new facility is a dedicated mission control centre, Rocket said, enabling Kea’s team to remotely operate and monitor flight tests in real time and bringing together command, control and live data analysis in one place.
Rocket has been a key backer of the wider aerospace industry in the city, and Kea’s new facility includes a new hub for smaller space start-ups.
Kea co-founder Mark Rocket at today's opening. Photo / Anna Heath
One of the first to take up the offer is the Auckland-founded Astrix Astronautics (which numbers Sir Peter Beck among its backers), which develops inflatable deployable spacecraft components.
An artist's rendering of a future Atmos design.
The hub forms part of the Christchurch City Council’s development agency ChristchurchNZ’s new Business Landing Pad initiative, designed to help innovative companies explore opportunities, establish a presence and accelerate growth in Ōtautahi.
“The Canterbury Aerospace Hub provides a dedicated space where businesses can collaborate, innovate and grow within Canterbury’s thriving aerospace ecosystem,” ChristchurchNZ aerospace sector lead Emma Renowden says.
(From left): Space and Defence Minister Chris Penk with Kea co-founders Philipp Sueltrop and Mark Rocket Photo / Anna Heath
“Having companies working alongside each other helps strengthen connections, share expertise and build the capability needed to support the sector’s long-term growth.”
It will be NZ’s first aerospace hub, Renowden said. It would help start-ups get over one of their biggest problems: How to commercialise their bright ideas.
Stratospheric flights
One of Kea’s prototypes - the Atmost Mark I - achieved its first stratospheric test flight in February last year after launching from the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre south of Christchurch.
Mark Rocket calls Kea's 12.5m wingspan Atmos Mark 1 (pictured) the "day tripper". The 35m wingspan Mark II, with room for more solar panels and batteries will be able fly for weeks, he says.
There was also a stratospheric flight in May this year (see video above) with photos taken from above 17,000m in a partnership with the German Aerospace Centre, which remotely controlled the Atmos from Cologne.
Those flights were with the Atmos Mark 1, which has a 12.5m wingspan.
“The Mark I was the day tripper,” Rocket said.
“The Mark II will be able to fly for weeks or even months.”
Rocket also confirmed to the Herald that his firm has just completed a venture capital raise that brought in $17.5 million, representing just under 20% of shares. The space entrepreneur did not want to detail backers as the paperwork was wrapped up, but the round included $2m of shares on crowd-funded equity site Snowball Effect, which Rocket said gave Kiwi retail investors the chance to participate.
Peter Beck and Mark Rocket in 2009. At the time, they formed the start-up's two-man board. Photo / Doug Sherring
“The raise was completed with New Zealand and international investors,” Rocket said.
August 3 Companies Office updates show Tokyo-based Asia Air Survey and the German-based Hans Staffhorst as new shareholders.
Rocket (born Mark Stevens) was a seed investor and early-stage employee at Rocket Lab.
He and Sir Peter Beck formed the start-up’s two-man board between 2007 and 2011, before they had a philosophical disagreement over a US defence contract and parted ways. Rocket resigned as a director, but maintained his shareholding.
Air Force a prospective customer
Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb and other RNZAF brass were on hand for today’s opening. Rocket told the Herald that the Air Force is a prospective Kea Aerospace customer for border protection, including maritime surveillance for illegal fishing and drug smuggling. The Government recently said it would be buying local drones under its new $300m defence capability plan to boost new defence tech.
“The relationship between the air force and Kea is long and strong,” Webb said, with the Wigram Aerodrome made available for early Atmos testing. He hoped Kea could participate in an upcoming tender for persistent maritime surveillance. Defence forces worldwide had to work with the private sector, Webb said.
“The Defence Force has a need to enhance our own maritime surveillance,” Webb said. “The Persistence Surveillance Air Project has entered the early request for information phase, seeking market feedback on uncrewed systems able to operate 1400 nautical miles from base for up to six hours, delivering high-definition imaging in near real time by day or by night.”
Inside the new facility. Photo / Anna Heath
Forestry, precision agriculture and search and rescue are other areas that utilise the Atmos Mark 2, Rocket said. His pitch is that it flies much lower than satellites, allowing for high-resolution photos and video, is cheaper than an aeroplane or helicopter, and can fly for weeks rather than a drone’s minutes.
Rocket founded Kea in 2018 with Suelltrop, a German rocket scientist and investor, who today serves as the company’s chief technology officer.
In June last year, he became the first Kiwi in space when he joined five others on a Blue Origin sub-orbital flight that included several minutes of zero gravity.
‘Beacon of hope’
“You are doing great things, somewhat of a beacon of hope for New Zealand at the moment,” Penk told an audience of about 100 at the opening, which included Mayor Phil Mauger, staff from the council’s economic development agency ChristchurchNZ and members of the local industry.
"A beacon of hope for the rest of New Zealand" – Defence and Space Minister Chris Penk at Kea's opening. Photo / Anna Heath
“So much is going well here, and I know that that reflects some natural advantages in terms of aerospace; the geography, the clear skies.
“But it’s also the hard work, the resilience, the determination of a lot of people, along with the creativity and innovation.”
Christchurch is also home to Dawn Aerospace and several smaller aerospace firms.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
