Kea Aerospace

04/06/2026

We're hiring! Kea Aerospace is looking for a full-time Office Administrator to join our Christchurch team.

You'll be the welcoming face and operational heart of our office, supporting our CEO, CTO, and wider team as we build New Zealand's largest unmanned aircraft.

If this sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you. Full details via the link.

Full-time Office Administrator at Kea Aerospace, a Christchurch aerospace R&D company. Be the welcoming face and operational heart of our team.

08/05/2026

Carrying payloads to the stratosphere and delivering high-resolution imagery in near real time - that's the capability we've been working toward.

In March, we achieved it.

Working alongside the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), with mission control in Christchurch and payload support live from Germany, the Kea Atmos Mk1 captured detailed imagery from 42,000 feet. A genuine milestone for the Kea team, and a fantastic collaboration between New Zealand and German aerospace.

Kea Aerospace has successfully captured aerial imagery of the Earth’s surface from 42,000 feet. This video showcases footage from a March, 2026 flight of the...

16/07/2025

🚁 Final weekend to see the Kea Atmos Mk1 at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand before it heads home to Kea HQ!

It's been incredible to see the interest and excitement from everyone who's come out to view the Atmos. If you've been thinking about visiting, make it happen this weekend and head out to Wigram - you won't want to miss this opportunity!

25/06/2025

We've just secured government funding for a groundbreaking three-year partnership with NASA Ames Research Center!

Our Kea Atmos Mk1 solar aircraft will carry NASA's state-of-the-art hyperspectral camera system, delivering water quality data with three times better accuracy than existing satellite technology—and at a fraction of the cost.

We're thrilled to continue our collaboration with Tāwhaki, ensuring mātauranga Māori knowledge remains central to caring for our lakes and coastal waters. Test flights with our NASA counterparts hope to begin this summer.

Thank you to Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for making this partnership possible!

👇 Click below for the full story!

Christchurch company Kea Aerospace has this week secured Government funding for a three-year partnership with NASA, following the success of a feasibility study last year. The project will look to improve methods to monitor water quality around New Zealand’s coastline using a sophisticated camera ...

01/06/2025

🚀 It's here! Our summer internship applications are now LIVE on Seek. Want to work on aircraft that fly at 60,000 feet for months at a time? We're looking for passionate engineering students ready to contribute to real stratospheric flight technology. Apply today!

Work with our team to build a solar-powered aircraft that flies in the stratosphere for months at a time collecting critical data.

26/02/2025

Ever dreamed of writing code that flies 20km above Earth? 🌏

Join our team developing the Kea Atmos - a solar-powered aircraft that soars in the stratosphere collecting vital data for environmental monitoring, disaster response, and more.

Apply now and elevate your career to the stratosphere!

Push the boundaries of embedded software for uncrewed aircraft systems and work on one of this decade's most exciting aerospace projects.

11/02/2025

Stratospheric flight achieved to 56,000 feet!

The Kea Aerospace team is thrilled to announce our first successful flight into the stratosphere!

This milestone marks a crucial step in developing solar-powered flight at high altitudes. Our aircraft demonstrated capabilities that will enable groundbreaking applications in Earth observation, communications, and beyond.

A massive thank you to our incredible team, partners, and supporters who helped us reach this moment. The sky is not the limit—this is just the beginning! 🚀 ☀️

09/12/2024

In case you missed it last week - the Kea Atmos reached new heights in November with a milestone 6,000-foot flight! Our aircraft successfully completed an 8km downrange journey—our first-ever Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight with the Kea Atmos. Our team is now gearing up for the next phase: high-altitude operations.

05/12/2024

"Christchurch is home to a rich community of thought leaders and sector experts; a community of innovators, and a city that celebrates big ideas."

Delighted to share this recent TTGmice interview with our CEO Mark Rocket, where he discusses his role in elevating Christchurch as a premier destination for global aerospace business events.

Mark Rocket, the current president of Aerospace New Zealand, and CEO of Kea Aerospace, is helping to propel Christchurch’s aerospace sector to new heights as a Business Events Advocate. He shares his thoughts about the newly-formed Space Cities Network, and his plans to leverage international conn...

02/12/2024

🌟6,000ft Flight Completes Low-Altitude Flight Test Campaign🌟

In November we took a giant leap toward the stratosphere! Our Kea Atmos aircraft soared to 6,000 feet and flew 8km downrange, marking the first Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight for the Kea Atmos. This flight also marked the completion of the company’s low-altitude test campaign, which included twelve previous Kea Atmos flights, and now the Kea Aerospace team is preparing the aircraft for higher altitudes.

This flight also debuted the Kea Atmos from the stunning Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre, where we had the privilege of using their new hangar and facilities. Tāwhaki is an exceptional take-off and R&D hub, and its infrastructure plays a pivotal role in advancing New Zealand's aerospace industry. A massive thank you to the dedicated team at Tāwhaki for their support.

The Kea Atmos Mk1 aircraft soars over Kaitorete in November 2024. This is Kea Aerospace's first flight with the Kea Atmos using Tāwhaki National Aerospace Ce...