Mahia: Now A US Nuclear Base?

The US military has indicated it wants to increase the number of space launches from Rocket Lab’s launchpad on the Mahia Peninsula including launching satellites involved in nuclear command-control-and-comms.

“This raises serious questions about compliance with New Zealand’s Nuclear Free legislation,” said Valerie Morse, member of Peace Action Wellington.

“We have been very concerned that the national security assessments by MBIE of Rocket Lab launches are insufficient. In particular, US military launches that are ‘classified’ means that New Zealand officials have very little knowledge about the military capabilities and targets of these satellites.”

“The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment who oversee space launches specifically state that ‘payloads that contribute to nuclear weapons programmes or capabilities” are expressly prohibited. Yet without the actual access to classified information from the US we have incomplete information about what these satellites do.”

“Moreover the integration and consolidation of command systems means that satellites may serve multiple outcomes including the operation of nuclear weapons. The US’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control or CJADC2 is the concept that the Department of Defense has developed to connect sensors from all branches of the armed forces into a unified network powered by artificial intelligence.”

“Mahia has become a de facto outpost of the US military where it can do what it wants, when it wants with very little real oversight and no concern for the implications of that for New Zealand independence as a nation. ”

“The threat of nuclear war is at the highest level it has been at in 40 years. New Zealanders rejected nuclear weapons two generations ago, we should not give up our principled stand under any circumstances, but particularly not by stealth under the cover of US ‘classified’ programmes.”

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