Southland the focus of space activities

Venture Southland’s special relationship with the European Space Agency stimulated a number of exciting space-related events in Southland and Wellington in February.

The ESA’s automated transfer vehicle (ATV) “Johannes Kepler” passed over Stewart Island - where it was tracked by the Awarua Earth Station - at 10 times the speed of a .303 bullet on Thursday, 17 February 2011, en route to the International Space Station.

Just 50 minutes after launch in Kourou, French Guiana, Awarua earth Station reported to Mission Control that the ATV payload had correctly separated from the Arianne 5 launcher and was headed to the space station with its ten tonne payload of fuel, water, air and food.

Venture Southland Enterprise Projects Manager, Robin McNeill, said because the separation occurred over Southland, Awarua Earth Station was the most important station in the tracking network around the world. For that reason, technicians and engineers from New Zealand, South Africa and Europe were stationed at Awarua to monitor the rocket’s progress.

Having such a significant event taking place over Southland skies, Venture Southland maximised the opportunity by organising five other events to coincide with the launch.

The ATV was named after the famous 17th Century physicist, Johannes Kepler, who discovered how planets orbit the Sun. After learning that the nearby Kepler Mountains and Kepler Track in Fiordland were named after the same person, the European Space Agency jumped at the chance to sponsor a “Kepler Space Camp” for 80 Southland teachers and students at Fiordland College, Te Anau.

The camp ran from 14-16 February and focused on observing Earth from space. The camp was taken by former European Space Agency Mission Manager, Dr. Eva Oriol-Pibernat, also an expert on meteorology and climate change, who came to New Zealand for the camp.

Public lectures, “Meet the Keplers… from Space!”, featuring ESA experts and Mr Chris de Cooke, Head of ESA’s International Relations, were held at the Te Anau Events Centre on 14 February, and at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill on 15 February. An industry briefing was held in Invercargill on 15 February.

Finally, an international colloquium, “What on Earth”, exploring satellite Earth observation in New Zealand, was held at Science House, Wellington on 17 February.

Organised by Venture Southland, the colloquium was run in conjunction with the Royal Society of New Zealand and was supported by the German Aerospace Centre, European Space Agency, Swedish Space Corporation, European satellite operators and New Zealand agencies.

The European Space Agency entered into an “Arrangement” with the Government of New Zealand for the establishment of Awarua Station in 2007, which among other things enables experts from the agency to attend activities in New Zealand. Venture Southland is the New Zealand executing agency.

Between monitoring rocket launches, the Awarua station is used to collect various data for measuring lightning and radio noise.