Building a Space Ecosystem in New Zealand ~ New Frontiers 2017

Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom fell in love with space at a young age, and never recovered. Despite never being good at maths and physics, she had a dream and persisted to get a Masters in Earth Sensing.

Eric Paat-Dahlstrom started out with a physics degree, and over the past few decades has worked on the design of International Space Station, and studied all the ways you can blow up a space shuttle.

A great inspiration to candidates for the Edmund Hillary Fellowship, together these two founders of International Space Consultants have a vision to build an international entrepreneurial space ecosystem in New Zealand.

The exponential rate at which new technologies are emerging enables us to produce satellites cheaper, faster, and better than ever before. You no longer need an aerospace degree to work in this industry.

New Zealand has some great competitive advantages when it comes to Space: We don’t have the same levels of air traffic that bigger countries have, so the skies are wide open for exploration. We have a well educated, high-tech population, a strong existing entrepreneurial ecosystem, and a government that is open and responsive to such initiatives. NZ-born company Rocket Lab is set to launch their first rocket from Mahia Peninsula in the coming weeks (UPDATE: Rocket Lab successfully launched in May 2017), and there was so much interest after they announced launch services that they immediately sold out of launches for two years. They now plan to launch to the moon at the end of this year.

Eric and Emeline see space technologies as applied technology that can solve grand global challenges, from climate resilience and disaster response to food and energy security. Here in New Zealand, the mapping of invasive plant species could be greatly assisted by a space industry. We could monitor the health of our rivers and bays, and track the daily changes and patterns. And with so much more satellite data to be analysed, New Zealand could also benefit from new jobs and opportunities for training.

Check out the video below to learn more about Emeline and Eric’s vision for New Zealand to be a pioneer in the entrepreneurial space industry.

Are you a visionary entrepreneur or investor building solutions to global problems? You can bring your vision to reality from New Zealand by joining the Edmund Hillary Fellowship community. Express interest here.