[SatNews] Two European space organizations are willing to invest as much as $6.3 million to build a satellite earth station in Southland, New Zealand, but a national customer needs to be established first.

Swedish Space Corporation vice-president for strategic development Martin Krynitz confirmed this week the corporation and the German Aerospace Centre had agreed in principle to put up between $2.7m and $6.3m to build a satellite Earth station at Awarua, 13km south of Invercargill, but was waiting on Venture Southland to find a New Zealand customer committed to using the station. The corporation already had international customers lined up, but it was a significant investment so the organizations needed a commitment from a New Zealand-based customer before it would go ahead, he said.

If built, the station will be able to receive data from passing satellites and once interpreted into an image could be used for anything from gauging grass growth to finding foreign boats in New Zealand territorial water or tracking bush fires. Venture Southland enterprise projects manager Robin McNeill said there was a lot of interest in the technology in New Zealand and he was working with several agencies to establish a customer base, including Landcare Research and GNS Science, but a business plan needed to be created. The plan would consider the cost to use the station and what satellites would be used. Although he was unsure how long a plan would take to create, he hoped to have a customer base identified by late June, he said. If successful the station could be completed by the end of next year. (Source: Stuff.co.nz, Scott Mackay)