Mission: Democratising Space
SpaceBase are making great impact within New Zealand’s space sector
In the past three years, a small organisation based in Aotearoa New Zealand has made significant strides in transforming the country’s nascent space industry into an accessible and open space for collaborative projects and space education.
SpaceBase was founded in December 2016 in response to the unequal development of the global space industry, with the goal of democratising access to space. Currently, over 70 percent of budgets and investment for space projects and enterprises are concentrated in the nine richest countries of the world. The primary mission of SpaceBase is to level the playing field.
The founding team are well suited to the challenge. Eric Dahlstrom cut his teeth working for NASA in the 1980’s, helping to design the International Space Station. Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom attended the International Space University and was recruited by Singularity University to support space-focused startups. Rich Bodo has spent over 20 years working in open-source, decentralisation, and blockchain projects, supporting everything from collaborative software development to humanitarian aid. All three were accepted into the inaugural cohort (Kawakawa) of Edmund Hillary Fellowship in 2017.
Using New Zealand as their inaugural base, SpaceBase is using educational programmes, entrepreneurial activities, and community development to build scaffolding around the space industry to support individuals and companies in diverse sectors. It operates as a non-profit organisation.
In addition to helping to diversify an industry which has traditionally been out of reach for many, the team are driven to support the use of space technology to enhance planetary stewardship, through application in climate science, precision agriculture, navigation, and environmental monitoring. SpaceBase has aligned its efforts with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a direct focus on several goals, and an indirect effect on several others.
If New Zealand is their first test nation, then all the signs are pointing towards significant global impact in the not-too-distant future. Within their first two and a half years of operation in New Zealand, the team has achieved an astounding amount, partnering with 64 organisations and startups, delivering 35 presentations and 26 briefings, and engaging with 14 of New Zealand’s regional economic development agencies. They launched the regular Wellington Space Meetup group, and have been instrumental in the formation of the New Zealand Student Space Association with several chapters around the country. The team is personally mentoring at least 10 startups or individual entrepreneurs. (You can read SpaceBase’s full impact report here.)
“Our impact and influence is at a national level, and we are already seeing the outcomes of our presence in NZ. We would not have the same level of influence with the same speed if we where prototyping in the US.”
- Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom, EHF Fellow and Co-founder SpaceBase
SpaceBase have hired a New Zealand-based dev team, along with 2 University of Canterbury marketing interns, and have currently completed their first phase of software development including a NZ Space Directory and the Space Calendar to help map out and connect the sector. They have engaged in the arts sector as well, contributing towards audio artist Radek Rudnicki’s Sound of Space Debris — an immersive audiovisual installation raising awareness about space debris as an issue and hazard in the space environment.
In 2018, the team partnered with ChristchurchNZ to run the inaugural NZ Space Challenge, with 22 teams competing for a $40,000 prize. Tasked with solving the problem of safe navigation of remote parts of Antarctica, the winning team at GPS Control Systems Ltd are now applying their technology to Antarctica New Zealand’s operations on the ice. As a result of the challenge, they are also investigating autonomous tractor solutions for New Zealand’s agriculture sector.
“I’m working with… the Operation Manager at Scott Base to install some of our GNSS mapping systems on their snow plows. This is the first step to later adding a self-steering system that will control the machines along a predefined path.”
- John Ahearn, Director, GPS Control Systems Ltd, and NZ Space Challenge 2018 Grand Prize Winner
The 2019 Challenge broadened the scope to include aerospace technologies, and the launch of the first aerospace virtual incubator in NZ. A collaboration between ChristchurchNZ and Airbus, with SpaceBase acting as a delivery partner, participants have been challenged to develop a product or service that detects, monitors or measures water or soil pollution using the very latest satellite and unmanned aircraft technology.
By the end of 2019, the team is aiming to release their space collaboration platform as open-source software, and to develop playbooks for other countries to create their own sovereign SpaceBases that can help drive innovation and economic activity. Already the SpaceBase team has helped to found Space PH — a non-profit organisation catalysing space activity in the Philippines.
“The contribution of Spacebase in building bridges between startups, academic, economic, educational and governmental institutions in creating the directory of Space companies means they have created something else that has never been before: A Minimum Viable Ecosystem (MVE) for the Space Industry in Aotearoa’s cloud!
- Sakthi Priya Ranganathan, JIX Limited.
To date SpaceBase has largely self-funded their efforts and are currently seeking grants and like minded philanthropic individuals or organisations who help with the next step of our journey. They are also looking for potential board members, volunteers, and partners to help expand the space industry in New Zealand and abroad. With so much under their belt within the first few years, this team will no doubt be making big waves in the future and paving the way for space technologies to be applied towards solving many diverse global challenges.
Get in touch if you would like to help!
Are you a visionary entrepreneur, investor, or changemaker building solutions to global challenges? You can bring your vision to reality from New Zealand by joining the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. Apply here.
