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The New Zealand Defence Force has celebrated a second payload successfully launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket.
The Tui payload, named after the native bird and hosted on a United States research satellite, was built by a team of scientists from the NZDF’s Defence Science and Technology.
Tui was launched aboard a Space X Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara, California, in the Western United States earlier this month on 15 January.
Tui is the primary payload on the Otter mission, a research satellite developed by the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The purpose of the experimental payload is to test communication pathways that will help reduce communications delays in space operations.
The NZDF payload will generate data over a two-year period and will be used to inform NZ defence space policy considerations and potential future research work.
“The Tui payload launch demonstrates a continuation of DST’s pathway into space operations research and development that began with the Korimako payload,” said DST Director David Galligan.
“We are delighted to be enabled in these endeavours through our strong international partnerships.”
Through this ongoing research venture, the NZDF, in collaboration with its international partners, is continuing to lay the groundwork for future space operations and will generate knowledge to enable future NZDF and wider government space development.
Tui is the NZDF’s second on-orbit research payload and represents another important milestone for both the NZDF and the wider New Zealand space enterprise.
The NZDF’s first orbital research payload, Korimako, successfully launched in March 2024, again hosted on an NPS satellite.
