Space Minister Judith Collins. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Laws will be introduced to stop foreign military or intelligence interference in radar and other space infrastructure being built in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) has said some entities proposed projects that might have helped foreign militaries and harmed New Zealand's interests, disguised to look like it is for civilian use.
"If these projects had gone ahead, we would have inadvertently allowed another country to install equipment in New Zealand with a plausible military or intelligence function," it said in September.
New Zealand had been adding to its ground-based infrastructure and operations to track satellites and transfer data to and from spacecraft, with the Defence Force among those keen to expand the US-linked ground-based gear it already had.
Space Minister Judith Collins said new legislation would come in next year, and regulations would follow that applied to new and existing space infrastructure.
"The new regulatory regime will be targeted to capture only ground-based space infrastructure that pose risks to New Zealand's national security and broader national interests," she said in a statement on Friday.
"Entities that do not share our values or interests" were the target.
Ground-based development was important for commercial and defence opportunities, Collins said.
The SIS in a threat report said a small number of entities in recent years had approached local organisations seeking to develop space infrastructure here, that was later revealed would have harmed New Zealand's interests.
"The full capabilities, and some of the affiliations of these entities, were deliberately hidden," the SIS said. "By hiding their affiliations, the foreign entities undermined New Zealand's ability to make informed decisions based on our national security and national interest."
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment would develop the new regulations.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.