NZ firm Dawn Aerospace lands $10m-plus space plane deal with US government agency
The buyer is the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority – a state government-owned agency that operates a runway and aerospace innovation hub.
The parties haven't put an exact price on the deal,
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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Warning Aurora power bills may rise $10
Household electricity bills for Aurora Energy customers could increase by an average of about $10 a month next year, the Commerce Commission says. Commissioner Vhari McWha said the commission was seeking feedback on its draft decision to allow the Dunedin City Council-owned lines company to recover up to $663.7 million over four years from 2026 to 2030. "We are conscious of the effect on electricity bills across Otago, and we've ensured this spend remains reasonable and limited to what's necessary to give consumers a safe and reliable network now and into the future," Ms McWha said. "It means Aurora can continue to renew ageing assets on its network while also meeting significant growth in demand for electricity in its regions." Aurora said yesterday its initial view was the draft decision outlined a level of cost savings that would "seriously inhibit" its plans to support economic growth and improve network resilience. Advocates for those struggling to pay bills said high electricity prices were already having a significant effect on some in the community. Ms McWha said the draft decision meant the average household electricity bills in the areas Aurora served could increase by about $10 a month next year and about $3 a month each year thereafter. Aurora's customised price-quality path (CPP) was put in place in March 2021 to allow the company to recover a set amount of revenue from customers over five years as it repaired and upgraded its network. However, the company's present revenue limits were due to expire in March next year, and new revenue limits would be set under general arrangements that applied to other price-quality regulated lines companies, Ms McWha said. "While Aurora has made significant progress during the CPP on the safety of its network, its investment catch-up was always planned to occur over a longer period. "In Aurora's CPP application, it anticipated investment would not return to a steady-state level until around 2030." In its draft decision, the commission had removed $16m related to projects with potential to be deferred by alternative solutions such as residential solar, Ms McWha said. Aurora Energy chief executive Richard Fletcher said the company would provide a formal response to the commission's draft decision. "However, our initial view is that the level of operating cost efficiencies referenced by the commission would be impracticable to achieve and, if not corrected in the final decision, would seriously inhibit the company's ability to deliver its published plan and improve network resilience. "It would also constrain the planned development of the company's network and operations to support customers' electrification transition and the economic growth of our operating regions." The draft decision appeared to be based on high-level benchmarking information from 2018 and did not appear to have been updated to reflect the company's current operating environment, Mr Fletcher said. He said the company was proud of what had been achieved over the past five years and found it "very disappointing" the commission had not raised concerns about the efficiency of the company's operating position in any of the formal annual progress reviews it had undertaken. Dunedin Budget Advisory Service manager Andrew Henderson said there was a lot of pressure on low to middle-income households at the moment — and the draft decision by the Commerce Commission "seems to fly in the face of that". The budget advisory service, which administered the Dunedin City Council's Consumer Electricity Fund, was processing between 80 and 90 applications each month from people struggling with the cost of electricity. "That's probably the tip of the iceberg. "It's just pressure from all angles on low to middle-income households," Mr Henderson said. A Grey Power Otago committee member, who asked not to be named, said people were already distressed due to increases in electricity bills. A woman had recently called Grey Power's South Dunedin office in tears after signing up with a new electricity supplier and receiving a power bill of $400 for her two-person household. Feedback on the draft decisions closes on August 22. A final decision is due to be published by the end of November.
Otago Daily Times
13-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Mayoral hopefuls split over Aurora sale decision
Two Dunedin mayoralty candidates have squared off about whether Aurora Energy should be sold. Cr Lee Vandervis said the Dunedin City Council company should be sold and the proceeds reinvested in diverse funds that could provide relief from rates increases. "We need to sell Aurora because the DCC is too indebted to keep providing the increasing levels of debt necessary to keep Aurora going and to keep up with Central Otago expansion needs," he said. Cr Vandervis described his position as unpopular, but necessary, and it would also make the council less vulnerable to changes in interest rates, he said. His thoughts were outlined in a blog about his mayoral plans to control rates, debt and bureaucracy. Mayoralty race rival Andrew Simms said the debate had occurred already and the will of the people won out when the council ended up deciding last year to keep the company. "Nothing has changed, Lee," Mr Simms said. "We still don't want you to sell Aurora out from under us to an Australian pension fund or anyone else." Mr Simms said the council was "struggling to avoid a debt spiral". "That needs to be fixed at the source — not masked by cashing in Aurora Energy, our most valuable asset that will deliver riches for Dunedin in the future." Aurora Energy is owned by the city council, but the lines company also has a presence in Queenstown, Wānaka and Central Otago. The issue of whether it should be sold re-emerged at a city council meeting last month, when Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich — who is standing for re-election — suggested it could have fetched as much as $1.9 billion if conditions were extremely favourable. He also said he was unaware of any election candidate campaigning to sell Aurora. Cr Vandervis said he was surprised by this. "I have always advocated for reinvesting debt-hobbled Aurora in a fund that gives us a return and does not demand ever more debt, despite vocal public opinion against a sale." Cr Vandervis said selling Aurora was the right thing to do. "I do hope to convince the next council to sell Aurora if the current good sale conditions persist, but councillors may well be convinced more by the growing debt burden and the threat of a rates revolt if we do not sell." Cr Vandervis, who chaired the council's finance and council-controlled organisations committee this term, said he, committee deputy chairwoman and deputy mayor Cherry Lucas and Dunedin City Holdings Ltd directors had viewed a sale as necessary. There had been poor past management and a decade of deferred maintenance catchup, and "massive Central Otago expansion potential can only be realised by a very wealthy investor", Cr Vandervis said. Mr Simms said Aurora was experiencing growth in demand for electricity and strong network growth in Central Otago. "Aurora is investing heavily in growth and renewals at present, but this capital expenditure carries a guaranteed rate of return, and the value of Aurora continues to escalate." Mr Simms said he was "proud to lead the effort" to retain the company. "In reality, that role was straightforward, with such a weight of the community opposed to selling Aurora."
RNZ News
13-06-2025
- RNZ News
NZ-Dutch company Dawn Aerospace sells its first spaceplane
From left: Dr. George Nield (Chairman, Global Spaceport Alliance), Jim Bridenstine (Managing Partner of the Artemis Group and Former NASA Administrator), Stefan Powell (CEO, Dawn Aerospace), and Khaki Rodway (Spaceplane Sales & Operations Director, USA, Dawn Aerospace) Photo: Supplied/Dawn Aerospace New Zealand-Dutch company Dawn Aerospace has reached a major milestone by selling its first spaceplane. The company has signed a US$17 million ($28m NZD) agreement to supply its Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered aircraft to the US state of Oklahoma. Under the deal, Dawn would provide the vehicle and everything needed to operate it, like ground support equipment, licensing, creating a support team, and parts and servicing. The aircraft would be based at the Oklahoma Air and Space Port, with delivery scheduled for 2027 and manufacturing to take place in Christchurch. Dawn chief executive Stefan Powell said it was "huge" for the company and the industry. "This is really the first time anyone has been able to buy a spacefaring capability," he said. "Normally you can buy a service, someone will take your thing to space or suborbital." Powell said it marked a significant moment for the global space industry. "It's really about transitioning the industry away from a single-use service, to more like an airline model, which we believe is far more scalable," Powell said. The Aurora is a remote-piloted aircraft and can carry small payloads of up to 5kg to altitudes of 100 kilometres (330,000 feet), and has a turnaround time of four hours. Dawn Mk-II Aurora in flight at 82,500 feet Photo: Supplied/Dawn Aerospace Dawn said it would be the first aircraft to reach the Karman line - the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space - twice in one day. The company has been in the process of testing and developing the aircraft, which can take off from a runway. In 2024, the Mk-II Aurora broke the sound barrier, reaching Mach 1.12 at 82,500 ft (25,146m), and setting a record for the fastest climb to 20 kilometres (65,600 ft). Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
