Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre is a multi-use facility in one of the world’s best locations to take flight, launch, and discover new horizons.
Our Whenua
Kaitorete
Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre is located at Kaitorete on the east coast of Te Waipounamu (the South Island) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Kaitorete has been identified as one of the world’s best locations for aerospace. The 25km-long, 3km-wide land ticks all the boxes for key technical aerospace and launch criteria and is well placed to provide access to desirable orbits.
Nestled between Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) and the Moananui-a-Kiwa (Pacific Ocean), Kaitorete is flat and unpopulated with an open sky as vast as its landscape.
Our Region
Ōtautahi Christchurch, Waitaha Canterbury
Just 50 minutes’ drive from Kaitorete is Ōtautahi, the second largest city in Aotearoa. Ōtautahi is home to a thriving tech sector, established aerospace workforce and advanced manufacturing industry. The city boasts international air and seaports, world-class universities, excellent schools and a stunning natural environment. Breath-taking beaches, native forests and snow-capped mountains all lie within easy reach of the city within the wider Waitaha Canterbury region.
Our Country
Aotearoa New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealand is well known as a launch site for space satellites and is the gateway to Antarctica. It is a safe, secure and advanced nation with a stable economy and advanced space regulatory framework.
Together with our joint venture partners we are focused on the hard and digital infrastructures required for leading-edge aerospace, space flight and launch activity.
Our Capabilities
Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre currently incorporates a 1-km sealed runway that provides for advanced aviation, horizontal space launch capability as well as hangar facilities (mid-2024), grass airstrips, drone areas and offices – in one of the best locations in the world.
We are scaling up the hard and digital infrastructures required for leading-edge advanced aviation, space flight and launch activity.
Tāwhaki has close working relationships with regulators to help facilitate testing for users and can provide advice and support for navigating our local systems. We’re also proactively looking at pathways to streamline types of testing for the industry.
Ultimately, the Centre will support all aerospace endeavours from research and development through to full scale operations.
Start your journey with us
A range of leading national and international organisations are already using our facilities to develop, test and refine their technologies. If you would like to learn more about our capabilities and capacity, please contact us to request a detailed information package.