NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

Are Rocket Lab's enterprises in our national interest?

RNZ
22 Jun, 2020 06:26 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Imge from the launch of the ' Still Testing' Electron rocket. Photo / Rocket Lab

Imge from the launch of the ' Still Testing' Electron rocket. Photo / Rocket Lab

From The Detail on RNZ

It's one of our most lauded companies: a true New Zealand success story - but how much do we know about what Rocket Lab is carrying into outer space, and who it's carrying that load for?

READ MORE:
• Rocket Lab takes
giant step toward first launch outside NZ
• Watch: Another Rocket Lab military launch - this time for spook agency

Today on The Detail, Emile Donovan speaks to investigative journalist Ollie Neas about the company's deep ties with the US military and intelligence agencies, and whether our policies around space launches are in the country's national interests.

Rocket Lab was founded in 2006 by engineer and scientist Peter Beck.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Three years later, in 2009, it became the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to launch a rocket into outer space, from its idyllic launch site on the Mahia Peninsula, between Napier and Gisborne.

And over the past decade the company has gone from strength to strength: attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from companies like ACC, Callaghan Innovation, and US arms company Lockheed Martin.

READ MORE:
• Government allowed 26 Rocket Lab employees into New Zealand
• Warp-speed ahead: Rocket Lab's fastest turnaround yet at Mahia, three weeks between launches

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nelson-based investigative journalist Ollie Neas says the company has carved out a niche for itself as a premier space courier company.

"Rocket Lab likes to think of itself as the FedEx of space, essentially. The idea is it has these small rockets that it can launch quickly and cheaply, and that allows people to put satellites into orbit on a much faster basis, and at a far lower price, than in the past."

But Rocket Lab's clientele isn't as varied as its list of investors: in 2010 it was awarded a US government contract from the Operationally Responsive Space Office.

Since then it's gone on to deliver payloads on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) - one of the US government's largest intelligence agencies.

Discover more

Business

Lift-off! Rocket Lab's latest launch

13 Jun 04:00 AM
New Zealand

Warp-speed ahead: Rocket Lab's fastest turnaround yet at Mahia, three weeks between launches

15 Jun 10:18 PM
Employment

Government allowed 26 Rocket Lab employees into NZ

16 Jun 06:37 AM
Companies

Nasa's small step to the Moon a giant leap for Rocket Lab

26 Jun 05:00 PM

It's also carried out work on behalf of the Office of Naval Research - the main research agency for the United States Navy and Marine Corps - and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is the Pentagon agency tasked with developing technologies that "maintain and advance the capabilities and technical superiority of the United States military".

This makes sense, in a lot of ways: few companies have the resources or motivation to head into outer space, and as a company looking to return a profit to its shareholders, Rocket Lab is limited in terms of who it works for.

But Ollie Neas says there are questions as to whether allowing payloads intended to help enhance American military and intelligence services to leave our shores is in New Zealand's wider interest.

"When you look at the makeup of the space industry, militaries around the world are a major client," he says.

"Increasingly private enterprise is getting involved here. In addition to Rocket Lab you've got things like Space X, Blue Origin, companies like that. In some cases they're doing things that government organisations used to do. For example, Space X launched some astronauts into space with Nasa, that's a new development. Rocket Lab is launching things that historically have been launched by government agencies.

"There is a difficult question, which is, what would it be like if Rocket Lab took a strong ethical line and said 'we're not going to launch for the military any more'? I'm sure that would have a big impact on its profitability. But, in many major companies around the world like in Google and Microsoft employees are really wrangling with these ethical questions ... saying they don't want to be involved in certain programmes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We really should confront these issues, even if the answers aren't obvious, or easy."

-RNZ

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Business

Freedom Furniture bought by Australian competitor

16 Jun 03:16 AM
Premium
Agribusiness

Comvita forecasts another annual loss

15 Jun 11:39 PM
Premium
Business|companies

Mighty Ape boss fronts over glitch that saw some users logged into other users’ accounts

15 Jun 11:27 PM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Freedom Furniture bought by Australian competitor

Freedom Furniture bought by Australian competitor

16 Jun 03:16 AM

Freedom has 13 stores in New Zealand.

Premium
Comvita forecasts another annual loss

Comvita forecasts another annual loss

15 Jun 11:39 PM
Premium
Mighty Ape boss fronts over glitch that saw some users logged into other users’ accounts

Mighty Ape boss fronts over glitch that saw some users logged into other users’ accounts

15 Jun 11:27 PM
Mighty Ape boss fronts on account glitches

Mighty Ape boss fronts on account glitches

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP