Security concerns spur New Zealand to regulate who can monitor satellites

By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The New Zealand government said on Friday it will pass legislation next year to prevent entities that "do not share the country’s values" from using it as a base to monitor satellites.

The South Pacific nation's location and clear skies make it a good place to launch and monitor satellites from, with the European Space Agency among those keeping an eye on space from New Zealand.

However, New Zealand’s intelligence service raised concerns in September about some foreign entities wanting to develop space infrastructure, which would have “assisted foreign military activity that could have harmed New Zealand interests.”

The report did not say which country or countries' military would have benefited if the plans went ahead.

However, the report did also say China remains a complex intelligence concern but there are other states that undertake malicious activity in New Zealand as well.

"The new regulations are intended to prevent the establishment or use of ground-based space infrastructure in New Zealand by entities that do not share our values or interests,” including the country's national security interests, Space Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.

New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes security grouping with the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, has a small commercial space industry that is growing fast with government support.

According to a report released by New Zealand’s National Intelligence Service, New Zealand organisations have been approached by a small number of entities seeking to develop space infrastructure in New Zealand’s territory.

“These entities often claim the infrastructure will be used for civilian research purposes, but it was subsequently found in each case that what was proposed could have assisted foreign military activity that could have harmed New Zealand’s interests,” the report titled New Zealand Security Threat Environment said.

"The full capabilities, and some of the affiliations of these entities, were deliberately hidden."

(This story has been corrected to say that the New Zealand intelligence service raised concerns in a report in September, not last week, in paragraph 3)

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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