(Photo: Rocket Lab with additional design by The Spinoff).
(Photo: Rocket Lab with additional design by The Spinoff).

SocietyJuly 9, 2025

What is Rocket Lab launching into space and why are people angry about it?

Staff writer
(Photo: Rocket Lab with additional design by The Spinoff).
(Photo: Rocket Lab with additional design by The Spinoff).

On Friday, picket signs bearing Palestine flags and banners about genocide gathered around three Rocket Lab locations in New Zealand. Why?

Rocket Lab, founded in 2006 by Sir Peter Beck, is often lauded in New Zealand for catalysing our space industry. Today it still leads the sector, one with a quickly growing revenue – it was $2.68b in 2024. It’s not just glowey-eyed nationalism that paints Rocket Lab favourably. Outside of New Zealand, it’s seen as an “innovative, exciting young space tech company,” and in the first quarter of 2025, Rocket Lab recorded $123 million in revenue, 32% up year-on-year.

Rocket Lab is now an American corporation with headquarters in California. It offers launches from Māhia Peninsula and Virginia USA as well as aerospace manufacturing and design. While in 2008 Beck stated, “if it’s involved in the military we don’t want anything to do with it,” the company won contracts from at least three US defence agencies in 2009, and seemingly never looked back. In May, Rocket Lab announced a $460 million deal with a US missile tracking tech company, positioning itself as a major contractor to US national security. In the US, Rocket Lab’s rockets are the second most launched (after SpaceX). Here in New Zealand, concerns have been raised, and largely ignored by politicians, that Rocket Lab’s ability to replace satellites makes the country a military target.

people holding hand painted signs one says 'break the rocket lab kill chain'
The picket outside Rocket Lab’s Mt Wellington premises on Friday July 4. (Photo: PSNA).

Over the years, groups like Auckland Peace Action and Rocket Lab Monitor have accused Rocket Lab of being part of the militarisation of space and breaching New Zealand’s Nuclear Free status. Many of the complaints have centered around its US military contracts. These groups have pointed out that Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer, has invested in Rocket Lab and that the aerospace intelligence and communications technology that Rocket Lab develops, manufactures and launches could be used in weapon systems and other military operations.

The most recent protests, from Friday, were led by Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA). Beyond the pickets, the group, along with a lawyer, have referred Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck, minister for space and for defence Judith Collins and others to the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Why? Because PSNA believes that Rocket Lab activities may have intentionally contributed to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Israel. 

In a statement provided to The Spinoff, a Rocket Lab spokesperson said the company “strongly refutes PSNA’s false and irresponsible claims” and that it is considering its legal options. They followed with a bullet-pointed summary of New Zealand’s legal requirements for launching rockets.

photo of a lovely peninsula with some concrete structures on it
Rocket Lab’s complex on Māhia Peninsula (Photo: Rocket Lab).

So what does Rocket Lab launch into space from Māhia?

Rocket Lab’s website says that its launches, numbering over 200 since 2018, have enabled “operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications”. In the past the company has said it does not and will not launch weapons as this is against its commitment and New Zealand law.

New Zealand’s space activities are regulated by the Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017. Apart from safety considerations, the act takes into account New Zealand’s international obligations and national interests like economic benefits, risks to national security and international relations. Anything launched into space must have a license granted by discretion of the government on a case-by-case basis. 

Cabinet has outlined some payloads not to be permitted – payloads that contribute to nuclear weapons programmes or capabilities; payloads with the intended end use of harming, interfering with, or destroying other spacecraft, or space systems; payloads with the intended end use of supporting or enabling specific defence, security or intelligence operations that are contrary to government policy; payloads where the intended end use is likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment.

Rocket Lab’s website includes a log of launched missions. Among the clients listed are Hawkeye360, BlackSky, Capella Space, NASA, the US National Reconnaissance Office, the United States Space Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and RideShare. A few are labelled “confidential commercial customer” or simply “undisclosed”. Some media coverage states that Hawkeye360, BlackSky, Capella Space, all space-based intelligence firms, have links to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, though unsurprisingly it’s hard to track down evidence and details. 

In its ICC referral, PSNA has taken issue with Rocket Lab’s BlackSky launches in particular, claiming that “these satellites provide high resolution images to Israel which are very likely used to assist with striking civilians in Gaza”. BlackSky has a network of satellites and sensors that capture high-frequency imagery of Earth. They monitor places and activities for clients, providing high-resolution photographs and AI-enabled analytics every hour under subscription models. This year, Rocket Lab is launching a series of BlackSky’s Gen-3 satellites from Māhia Peninsula which are faster, can automatically identify smaller objects and can capture imagery through clouds, smoke or haze. 

photo of Auckland ports from above
BlackSky choose the Port of Auckland as one of the locations to showcase Gen-3 imagery on their website. (Photo: DarkSky. Photo has been re-sized to fit).

In 2024, Intelligence Online, an intelligence trade publication, reported that “BlackSky has a secret $150m contract to supply high temporal frequency images and analysis to the Israeli defence ministry”. This claim has not been reported elsewhere, but BlackSky has recently announced a new, $100+ million contract from a “strategic international defense sector customer” for its Gen-3 monitoring capabilities. 

When Rocket Lab was asked by Newsroom in November last year whether payloads it had launched had been used to inform Israeli air strikes, a spokesperson pointed to other uses of commercial satellite imagery and data like disaster and humanitarian response, emergency management, national security, commerce, and environmental monitoring. A recent mission launched satellites for wildfire detection and monitoring.

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What don’t we know?

There is much we don’t know and may never know about what Rocket Lab and its clients do. Some payloads have been kept confidential, yet all launches from New Zealand have to disclose information to the government in order to get the needed licenses. It’s not cut and dry when the government might have obligations to release that information – under the Official Information Act information can be withheld on grounds of commercial or national security.

The Spinoff contacted the office of Judith Collins for comment on Rocket Lab and the ICC referral. We were referred to the office of the prime minister who provided the following comment from a spokesperson:

“People are free to express their views but New Zealand has consistently made clear the situation in Gaza is deeply distressing, and the crisis must end. Our response to the Israel-Hamas conflict has been consistently grounded in the importance of upholding international law.”

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a background of blue buses on a map with a glowing-red picture of a quizical face and the teal motu move card
Where is it? Nobody knows. (Image: Shanti Mathias/Metro screenshot)

SocietyJuly 9, 2025

Ghost bus: why is Motu Move taking so long to arrive in Canterbury?

Contributing writer
a background of blue buses on a map with a glowing-red picture of a quizical face and the teal motu move card
Where is it? Nobody knows. (Image: Shanti Mathias/Metro screenshot)

The new public transport payments were supposed to be operating in Canterbury already. What’s happened?

Last year, people in Canterbury were expecting a subtle, but useful, change to how they use public transport: the advent of the Motu Move system, which would allow Cantabrians to tag on to the bus with their debit card. Going region by region, the plan was for Motu Move to replace existing ticketing and public transport cards, concluding in Otago at the end of 2026. With one system in the whole country, the same card could be used for taking the train in Auckland, the ferry in Wellington and the bus in Christchurch. Though only one card would be required (and contactless debit cards could be used to tag on too) the pricing of public transport would still go to each individual council. 

But although Motu Move was supposed to be operating in Canterbury by mid-2025, with an earlier rollout in Timaru and Temuka, Cantabrians are still scanning their Metro cards. The only sign of it, so far, is Christchurch’s route 29 bus – supposed to be an initial pilot before the broader system was implemented. 

Running since December, a NZTA spokesperson said that 27,000 trips on the 29 route have been paid for with debit and credit cards – 35% of adult fares on that route. “The pilot has proven that the base contactless payments components of the system work and that more customers than expected have been keen to adopt the new payment options,” NZTA said. 

a hand holding a snapper card, a Bee card, ametro card and an AT HOP card, with a grey street in the background
For now, New Zealand public transport users need to rely on one of these four (Image: Shanti Mathias)

However, the broader system is well behind schedule. A re-confirmed plan for delivery in Canterbury, then the rest of the regions, is expected in August, NZTA said. The National Ticketing System governance board is also conducting a review to identify problems with implementation; a report will be delivered at the end of July. 

Deon Swiggs, the Environment Canterbury deputy chair and holder of the transport portfolio, says that the delay has been “frustrating”. “NZTA have to communicate with us,” he said, noting the communication has improved in recent weeks. “We need to know what’s happening so we can communicate it to our residents.” 

The initial plan was to roll out Motu Move in Timaru and Temuka early this year. Timaru has on-demand shuttle buses, and there’s a bus route from the South Canterbury centre to Temuka. Both towns have on-demand transport services. “It’s a smaller and more confined system [than Greater Christchurch] – a good test to iron out the kinks,” Swiggs said.

a motu move scanner on Christchurch's 29 bus
Christchurch’s 29 bus is the first, and so far only, route to have Motu Move installed. (Image: Shanti Mathias)

One reason that Canterbury had been selected as the first area to deploy the Motu Move upgrade was that its current ticketing system with a Metro transport card is up for renewal. “We were operating on the assumption that Motu Move would take over Metro in Christchurch,” Swiggs said. Until the council receives an updated timeline, it’s not clear how much it should invest  to keep Metro running in the meantime. 

The benefits of the Motu Move system are clear. Elliot Weir, an Otago Regional councillor, uses their Bee Card frequently. Outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the Bee cards are operated by all other regional councils with public transport services, meaning Weir was able to tag onto the bus as normal when they visited Hamilton recently. This could make it even easier for visitors to a region to use public transport, rather than needing to borrow a car or use rideshare services. “Queenstown has a bus that goes to the airport – it’s always packed,” Weir pointed out. 

The Motu Move system will also mean users can tag on with digital credit cards, and top their card up on their phone. “I’ve been known to forget my wallet – it’s super handy if you can still tag on with your phone or watch,” Weir said.

Swiggs has appreciated using his Google Wallet to take the 29 bus. As Motu Move rolls out, most councils will stop accepting cash fares. “It’s more efficient to tag on than for drivers to manually count cash,” Swiggs said. “If it costs an extra five or 10 seconds at every stop, and there are 50 stops on a route, that adds up to nearly 10 minutes – we know that reliability is the first thing users want from a public transport system.” Environment Canterbury plans to work with the City Mission and Housing First Christchurch to get their clients up to speed on the digital system; low income people are often those who depend on cash. 

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When implemented, the ticketing system will also gather better data about which routes are being used – ideally helping transport planners to ensure their services respond to where people want to go. 

Motu Move does represent a major technical challenge. But other countries have conquered the “pay with your debit card” challenge years ago: Singapore, Sydney and the Netherlands all have this option available. “It’s really simple to just have one card,” Swiggs says. “It’s been en route for a long time.” Debit card tag-on is already available in Auckland (which will eventually also be integrated into Motu Move), and on Wellington’s airport bus. But Cantabrians will have to wait months even just to find out when Motu Move might arrive for them.

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