The next Rocket Lab mission will include a military satellite designed to improve targeting capabilities for US warfighters, reports Ollie Neas. This morning, Rocket Lab, the US-owned but NZ-based space company, announced details of its next mission which will lift-off from its Mahia Peninsula launch site in March. The mission will carry satellites for a … Read more
The NZ Defence Force has become an active participant in US military-space war games, together with other Five Eyes partners. As the extent of involvement continues to grow, questions arise around the trade-offs, and the absence of any public debate. Ollie Neas reports. This investigation is made possible by Spinoff Members. To support independent, homegrown … Read more
A recent issue of Air Force News revealed that a senior NZDF officer served a six-month posting at the Qatar base, placing New Zealanders at the heart of the main targeting and bombing centre in that region, writes Darius Shahtahmasebi Last month the coalition government declared the end of New Zealand Defence Force deployments in … Read more
The government has deliberately limited public understanding of Rocket Lab’s US military connections in order to support American security interests, documents show. Before the first rocket took off from Mahia Peninsula on the East Coast two years ago, MPs considered whether they should clarify that New Zealand’s new space industry would be strictly for peaceful … Read more
The Kiwi success story is working for an agency that developed stealth aircraft and the scheme to bombard Vietnam with Agent Orange. After weather delays and problems with a dodgy video transmitter, Rocket Lab finally launched its first mission of 2019 this week. As it’s usually told, the story of New Zealand’s entrance into the space … Read more
Finlay Macdonald reviews The Killing of Osama bin Laden by Seymour Hersh About the worst thing anyone will say of Seymour Hersh’s journalism is that he’s only “one of America’s greatest investigative reporters”. But that’s the New York Times for you, always hedging. Others don’t hold back so much: “The most feared investigative reporter in … Read more