Beyond our limits: New Zealand increases its space launch limit

In 2024, New Zealand had the third highest number of space launches in the world. However, the launches were quickly approaching the upper limits of New Zealand’s regulatory settings. As of February 2026, the Government has offered an immediate solution to these near-term capacity constraints on space launches in New Zealand by increasing the permitted number of launches from 100 to 1,000.

 

The problem

After lift-off, space vehicles jettison parts which fall back towards the Earth during the various flight stages. The jettisoned material may burn up in the atmosphere but some of it may reach the Earth’s surface. Any jettisoned material that lands in the sea is likely to sink, either immediately or over a short period of time, to the seabed.

With such high demand for launches in New Zealand, the space industry was nearing New Zealand’s regulatory limit for releasing debris in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone and Extended Continental Shelf (EEZ). That is, since 2016, up to 100 launches could deposit debris in the EEZ without requiring a marine consent.

That 100 launch limit was expected to be reached this year, according to a report by Earth Sciences New Zealand (and commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment) (Debris Impact Report).

The Debris Impact Report included an ecological risk assessment of debris from space vehicle launches on the marine environment, using debris location data supplied by Rocket Lab to calculate the cumulative risk from 1 to 10,000 launches. It concluded that the environmental risk remains low for up to 1,000 launches, provided debris is not deposited on sensitive features like seamounts.

 

The solution

This spurred the Ministry for the Environment to increase the permitted number of launches from 100 to 1,000 by amending the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects – Permitted Activities) Regulations 2013 (EEZ Regulations).

Projections show that the new limit will not be reached until at least 2050.

 

Industry and environmental consequences

For the space industry, this increase offers necessary certainty – each launch above the cap would have required a fully notified marine consent costing NZD180,000 - NZD630,000 and taking up to 9 months from notification of the consent application to final determination.

Rocket Lab will be particularly interested in this regulatory update, as one of only two operators currently launching from New Zealand. The other operator is the University of Canterbury’s student-led aerospace club “UC Aerospace” who, notably, does not operate commercially. The uplift will also be of interest to new operators scoping New Zealand as a launch site – Ministry for the Environment’s Regulatory Impact Statement suggests there may be a few waiting in the background.

The impact of the debris is largely environmental. The Ministry for the Environment’s Regulatory Impact Statement recognises three main effects from the debris: direct strike causing mortality to sea life, noise disturbance and smothering of benthic organisms. These affect different groups of animals, plants and ecosystems such as seabirds, cetaceans, oceanic fish, and animals that live near or on the seabed. Ultimately, it concludes that the benefits are expected to far outweigh the costs.

However, critics are concerned that New Zealand is leading in launch numbers but absent in leadership on the environmental consequences of these launches. More broadly than debris, critics are questioning New Zealand’s position on the sustainability of fuel, debris in orbit and decommissioned space technology.

 

Bigger than an individual launch

This fits into a much larger picture of New Zealand’s rapidly growing space industry, with a recent government-funded report hailing that:

“In the five years since 2019, the New Zealand Space sector has expanded from an estimated USD1.75 billion to USD2.68 billion, marking a 53% increase or year-on-year growth of 8.9%. This outpaced Global Space sector’s growth of 40.6% over the same period. New Zealand’s Space sector has also outpaced local economic growth over this period, which was 8.7%, or year-on-year growth of 1.9%”.

This is, in part, due to the country’s geographic location: New Zealand offers relatively rare Southern Hemisphere ground-based space infrastructure coverage for satellites that are reliant on near-continuous communication between space and Earth.

DLA Piper are leading local and global experts in the Space Industry. For more information, please contact the authors.