Today, RNZ reported:
Space Minister Judith Collins has gone to ground over alleged government failures managing New Zealand's first official, taxpayer-funded satellite mission.
Last year, Collins welcomed the launch of MethaneSAT as "a milestone in the development of New Zealand's space sector".
However, since the methane-hunting satellite lost communication with its owners, she has refused to answer questions on whether there would be any form of review of New Zealand's involvement in the mission.
...
Several experts RNZ has spoken to in the space industry lamented the choice to spend tens of millions being involved in a third party project, rather than making the country's first space mission something designed and launched from New Zealand.
Political leaders declined to front on calls for a thorough review.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has blamed Labour for overseeing the initial investment and referred follow-up questions to Collins. That's despite the launch and orbit happening under the current government.
Collins has repeatedly refused to comment and referred all questions, including questions abut whether the government would hold a review, to the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), which houses the country's Space Agency.
MethaneSAT was designed to deliver precise, high-resolution data on methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, with a focus on exposing leaks from oil and gas operations. The satellite could have also potentially tracked the release of the potent greenhouse gas from agriculture. Such transparency is anathema to industries that thrive on obfuscation, preferring to downplay their environmental impact while lobbying for deregulation.
The National government, under Christopher Luxon, has shown a troubling alignment with these interests, delaying accountability, rolling back climate policies and championing fossil fuel exploration. This cosy relationship casts a shadow over the decision to hand control of MethaneSAT to BCT, a company with no stake in New Zealand’s environmental goals but a clear lineage in RTX’s defence empire, notorious for its ethical and legal transgressions.
The transfer of control to BCT in March 2025, ostensibly to address “operational challenges,” was a baffling move. Why entrust a critical climate mission to a subsidiary of RTX, a corporation mired in scandals? RTX has a rap sheet that includes a $950 million settlement in 2024 for defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense with defective pricing, bribing Qatari officials to secure contracts, and violating export controls by leaking sensitive technology to China, Russia, and Iran.
Their environmental record is equally grim, with toxic waste contamination in Florida and Arizona. RTX’s weapons, including cluster munitions and missiles used in Yemen and Gaza, have fuelled civilian suffering, while their “pain ray” systems used on civilians raise further ethical alarms. BCT, as part of this conglomerate, inherits a legacy of untrustworthiness, making the initial contracts and their control of MethaneSAT deeply suspicious.
Equally troubling is the lack of transparency from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Defence Minister Judith Collins. MBIE’s refusal to answer questions about the transfer or the satellite’s persistent issues, frequent safe mode entries, thruster malfunctions, and a paltry data output, smacks of a cover-up. Collins, typically forthright, has been conspicuously silent, leaving New Zealanders in the dark about a $29 million taxpayer investment. This opacity fuels speculation that the government prioritised corporate interests over accountability, especially given Raytheon's questionable history and National’s fossil fuel-friendly stance.
The satellite’s “problems” before its planned handover to the University of Auckland’s Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute in June 2025 are equally perplexing. Reports of issues due to Solar Cycle 25’s peak in 2024–2025 seem convenient excuses. MethaneSAT is the only reported satellite to fail due to solar activity during this period, despite thousands of others navigating the same conditions. This singularity raises red flags: were these issues genuine, or a pretext for BCT to assume control?
The apparent absence of any proper mechanism for NZ authorities to oversea systems during these transfers or robust checks and balances during the satellite’s construction by BCT is glaring. Manufacturing faults are now cited as a cause of failure, yet no independent oversight ensured the satellite’s integrity. This smells of negligence, or worse, deliberate sabotage to protect oil and gas industry interests from MethaneSAT’s data, that would have highlighted methane emissions with pinpoint accuracy.
Rocket Lab, which operated MethaneSAT’s mission control until March 2025, adds another layer of intrigue. Their current PR campaign, which even includes promotional propaganda from Auckland's Mayor, Wayne Brown, consisting of founder and CEO Peter Beck insisting that they avoid military entanglements, is patently false. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, HASTE suborbital vehicle, and Photon spacecraft bus support U.S. and U.K. defence contracts, including hypersonic weapons testing (HASTE), military communications satellites (SDA’s Tranche 1 and 2), and rapid cargo delivery for conflict zones (Rocket Cargo). These technologies clearly bolster U.S. operations, contradicting Rocket Lab’s claims of neutrality. Their ties to Lockheed Martin, a weapons giant, further undermines their credibility.
The MethaneSAT debacle is a stark reminder of how corporate and government interests can converge to undermine public good. The farming and oil and gas industry’s aversion to accurate methane data, National’s fossil fuel bias, and RTX’s chequered history suggest a troubling narrative: a satellite designed to hold polluters accountable may have been deliberately compromised. Until Collins and MBIE provide answers, New Zealanders are left to wonder whether our climate ambitions were sacrificed on the altar of geopolitical games and corporate greed.
