New Zealand Aerospace Summit 2025 Statement on Protest Activity
Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand — October 8, 2025 - Today the New Zealand Aerospace Summit is being held at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre involving more than 750 participants and hundreds of companies from around the globe.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Open Skies: Leveraging New Zealand’s Low Air Traffic and Rapid Regulatory Environment.” The Summit includes an “Aerospace for a Sustainable Future” panel alongside a focus on renewable Aerospace for Aotearoa. Any emerging industry and innovation has implications for the wider community and this Summit seeks to create a space for those to be discussed and addressed.
We are aware protestors are planning to demonstrate outside the event and they have been provided with a designated space to make their voices heard. We met with the protest organisers on September 26th and made clear our expectation that protestors act respectfully and not take action that impacts the comfort of our attending professionals, educators and students.
Like many sectors – for example communications, internet and automotive – aerospace-related-services can be a dual use technology for civilian or military purposes. The Summit organisers expect that all companies engaged in aerospace based activities will meet the obligations and expectations of the New Zealand government’s policies and regulations. As part of the licensing programme for New Zealand spacecraft, the New Zealand Space Agency is responsible for ensuring the missions are aligned with New Zealand’s interests.
Today, Aerospace New Zealand is pleased to sign "The Washington Compact on Norms of Behaviour for Commercial Space Operations" — a global agreement that promotes responsible, transparent, and sustainable practices across the commercial space sector. The Compact fosters cooperation between governments and private entities to ensure the safe, peaceful, and interoperable use of space for the benefit of all.
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About the Summit:
The Summit is organised by Aerospace New Zealand, a not-for-profit focused on fostering innovation and high-tech jobs. In addition to the Summit, Aerospace New Zealand organises Meet Ups, mentoring programmes, Startups and STEM education for students.
Aerospace related services enable:
· Communication: Global phone and internet services.
· Navigation: GPS for travel and mapping.
· Weather Forecasting: Monitoring weather patterns.
· Television Broadcasting: Satellite TV access.
· Research: Data collection for climate and space studies.
· Surveillance: Earth observation for agriculture, security and urban planning.
· Disaster Management: Tracking natural disasters.
· Remote Sensing: Supporting agriculture and land use.
· Financial Transactions: Enabling banking operations.
· Space Exploration: Studying other planets and celestial bodies.
Media Contact:
enquiries@aerospace.org.nz
