Space Minister Judith Collins will speak at the Space Symposium in the United States next week, promoting New Zealand’s rapidly growing place in the sector as we work to rebuild the economy.

“As one of the largest global space events, attended by more than 10,000 business and government representatives from a host of countries, the Space Symposium presents an excellent opportunity to support and promote New Zealand trade interests and companies,” Ms Collins says.

“New Zealand is an attractive place for space-related business. I will use this visit to promote our advantages, including geography, clear skies, infrastructure, skills, a nimble regulatory regime and the ease of doing business here.

“We are home to the world’s only fully private orbital launch site and we are one of the busiest launch countries in the world. In fact, last year we conducted the fourth-highest number of launches in the world. This is an achievement we want to build on as we seek to rebuild economy and ease the cost of living for New Zealanders.”

New Zealand is a great location for emerging aviation companies to test and trial their technology, and our rapidly growing space industry also reaches into areas such as defence and science, innovation and technology, Ms Collins says.

“Beyond rocket launches, our researchers and companies are using innovative, disruptive space technologies to tackle some of the planet’s big challenges and to create new and exciting opportunities for economic growth,” she says.

“As well as space, there are real opportunities in other areas of advanced technology and I’m looking forward to hearing about and discussing these with the growing hub of New Zealand tech businesses based in Colorado.”

Ms Collins will also undertake a range of meetings across her space, defence and science, innovation and technology portfolios during the visit. She leaves tomorrow and returns to New Zealand on April 14.

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