This Prize is for a professional for outstanding achievements and contributions to the space or advanced aviation sectors.
The winner will receive $100,000.

Eligibility:

  • This Prize is for a person working in a company or research institute in the space or advanced aviation sectors.
  • The applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand, who is currently domiciled in New Zealand, and active in the space sector and/or advanced aviation sector.
  • The business activities and/or research behind the achievement must have met current standards of ethical practice and have been carried out largely in New Zealand.

Criteria

Our expert judges will assess candidates by reviewing a range of evidence for:

  • development and deployment of new or improved products, processes, or services (including public services) in the space or advanced aviation sectors
  • changes to practice at a national level in the space or advanced aviation sectors
  • sustained increases in investment in the space or advanced aviation sectors, by potential or actual technology transfer partners or end-users
  • changes to how a body of knowledge relevant to the space or advanced aviation sectors, or the field of aerospace research is organised and used (as a result of challenging previous conventional wisdom)
  • development of new methods that have advanced research practice in the space or advanced aviation sectors
  • achievement that have inspired the next generation of professionals into the space or advanced aviation sectors.

The list is non-exclusive, and not all evidence forms will be appropriate for any application.

Each applicant should set out in the application statement the nature of the significant impact, contribution, and/or transformative achievement.

The applicant’s entry must be endorsed by two referees. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed.

Panel Members

The Society has appointed six experts to review applications in 2026:

Professor Guglielmo Aglietti (Co-Chair), Director of Te Pūnaha Ātea – the Auckland Space Institute, Faculty of Engineering and Design, University of Auckland

Anna Kominik (Co-Chair), Independent Director, Dawn Aerospace

Professor Rod Badcock FRSNZ, Chief Technology Officer at OpenStar Technologies

Professor Any Koronios, Chief Executive, SmartSat Research Centre, Australia

Tim Searle, Director of Business Development and Partnerships at Innovian Space

Dr Michelle Thaller, Astronomer and research scientist (formerly Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

We aimed to find people from around Aotearoa New Zealand, with a range of backgrounds, expertise, and experience.

Conflicts of Interest

If you would like to apply, and you know a member of our expert panel, please just fill out the question on the application form to explain how you know them, and the Society will manage the situation to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

All panel members will also be asked to advise the Society if they know any of the applicants. In general, if there could be perception of bias, we will ask the panel member not to assess or discuss that specific application.

If you have any questions during the process, please contact the Society. Do not contact any of our experts. All applicants, nominees, and their supporters must agree not to contact any of our Panel Members during the assessment process – and vice versa.

Confidentiality

Note that we will interview a shortlist of applicants for the Prize, based on initial scores, but we will not publish or disclose any information on ranking, shortlisted applicants, or the names of unsuccessful entrants.

Recommendation and final announcement of winners

The final winner for this Prize will be decided by the relevant Minister based on the recommendation of the expert Panel members.

 

Need help?  Have other questions?

The Secretariat for The Prime Minister’s Space Prizes is the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

For any questions, contact us at:

PO Box 598
Wellington

(04) 470 5762

pmspaceprizes@royalsociety.org.nz.

 

Supported by the New Zealand Government with funding from the New Zealand Space Agency and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.