Aerospace experiment conducted in NZ
A recent Aerospace-facilitated experiment conducted in New Zealand aims to increase understanding of the effects of severe weather on high-frequency communication systems and improve the design and development of future satellite communications systems.
08 May, 2025
The 150th anniversary of a seminal international space partnership was recently celebrated: the 1874 gathering of scientists from the United States, England, France and Germany to observe the transit of Venus from New Zealand’s fortuitous location in the Southern Hemisphere.
Participants in that historic collaboration, which helped calculate the solar parallax, could scarcely have envisioned the present-day reality of a global, interconnected space community in which data and technology sharing among allies is vital. The legacy of the Transit of Venus Expedition echoes through today as the U.S. and New Zealand remain close allies through partnerships such as the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, the Combined Space Operations Center and the Artemis Accords.
An experiment recently launched by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and facilitated by The Aerospace Corporation helps extend the scientific legacy at the foundation of this partnership. The experiment, funded by Space Systems Command International Affairs (SSC/IA), a division of the U.S. Space Force (USSF), aims to improve and expand weather data availability for U.S. and New Zealand’s future space-based V-/W-band communication systems.