ROCKET LAB IN OUR SIGHTS
Watchdog no. 172 (August 2026)
Just days after RNZ breathlessly announced that “Rocket Lab2 wins record contract with US Department of War…the largest single launch contract in the NZ-founded company’s history and lifts its total order backlog to more than US$2 billion (NZ$3.44b)”,3 peace activists from across the country gathered at Māhia in March 2026 for the first ever motu-wide gathering of the Keep Space for Peace campaign at the invitation of Mana Whenua, Rongomaiwāhine.
The Friday evening hui opened with a session focused on local experiences with Rocket Lab. This was a distressing session as attendees began to understand the full impacts of the launch site. These stories included details of ecological and cultural damage and a widening zone of physical exclusion from the launch site. On Saturday, we were treated to the most amazing kōrero from Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting (Ngati Manu, Te Popoto, Ngapuhi), a passionate science educator and researcher focused on decolonising science and revitalising the Maramataka (Māori lunar-stellar-environmental calendar) to empower Māori communities.
Te Kahuratai’s talk was entitled: “Maramataka in the Space Age: Revitalising maramataka, tātai arorangi and celestial navigation to uphold kaitiakitanga of our skies in the so-called ‘golden age of space exploration’”. His talk was exceptional: it was deeply engaging for Tāngata Whenua and Tāngata Tiriti alike in stoking the love of our beautiful universe, respect for the depth of indigenous understanding, and our anger about how it is being turned into a zone of war-making.
Further presentations included
my own about the New Zealand government plans to expand the use of space in waging war including the regulatory environment, New Zealand Defence Force funding and development of a home-grown space force
lawyers Sam Vincent and Ruby Haazen discussing the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa work to take the Government to the International Criminal Court. This case names Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Beck, as a co-accused involved in war crimes arising from the launch of Black Sky surveillance satellites that provide high-definition photography of Gaza for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) that is used in targeting.
Peace Action Ōtautahi’s Aurora Garner-Randolph gave some super uplifting reflections on blockading the national aerospace summit and other learnings from the work they have been doing opposing NIOA, a weapons company that manufactures sniper scopes for the IDF.
Tāmaki Makaurau Keep Space for Peace crew’s reflections on their regular actions at the Auckland Rocket Lab production facility.
On Saturday afternoon, we travelled the very narrow winding road to the launch site. A launch was due to happen that evening. Kilometre markers along the side of the road denoted our distance from the site itself—so we were indeed surprised when we were stopped 20+ kilometres from the launch site by security. The exclusion zone was originally expected to be an eight-kilometre (five-mile) radius from the pad that was predicted to reduce in size once the site became commercially operational.
As we stood around atop the narrow mountainous entranceway, gazing across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the great Pacific Ocean, black SUVs of “approved visitors” arrived and were whisked through. Though the launch pad only occupies a small area on the peninsula, it seems it requires many, many square kilometres to be free of opposition to the company.
In terms of the outcome of the hui, there were several critical threads; however, it should be said that for most, simply the opportunity to meet face-to-face was the most significant outcome. The reason for this is that it makes asking each other for solidarity and support much easier and more straightforward. For Mana Whenua it was uplifting to see their own take being carried by a number of other people around the country.
There are key areas where we are going to be able to collaborate. We decided to work together on a shared kaupapa of Keep Space for Peace – Haere Atu Rocket Lab, with different strands in different parts of the country with further discussion needed on campaign tools and resources to be developed, and plans to meet again and more regularly to coordinate activities.
Many thanks to the Anti-Bases Campaign for financial support to help make this hui happen! You can sign up to be part of the Rocket Lab campaign here: https://mailchi.mp/14d77e445c95/keep-space-for-peace.
This was written for the Anti-Bases Campaign’s magazine Peace Researcher. – Ed.↩︎
Rocket Lab is a US weapons company partly owned by Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms dealer. The company has a launch pad at the southern tip of the Māhia Peninsula, on land leased from a Māori Incorporation.↩︎
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/590037/rocket-lab-wins-record-contract-with-us-department-of-war↩︎
Watchdog 172 -- August 2026
Non-Members:
It takes a lot of work to compile and write the material presented on these pages. If you value the information, please send a donation to the address below to help us continue the work.
Foreign Control Watchdog, PO Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand/Aotearoa.
Email