Space hub reins in future plans

CHANGES to the Centre for Space Science Technology (CSST) mean a reduction in staff numbers and a decision not to open three of four possible offices for the organisation.

The remodelling was necessary to make CSST viable and the organisation was still determined to make a cuttingedge, longterm contribution to space science technology and the New Zealand regions, CSST chief executive Steve Cotter said.

It was standard practice to revisit business cases as proposals were turned into reality, and vital to do so with CSST.

‘‘What we’re doing is refining it down to a more focused business model, one that we think would be more in tune with what the community needs. . . What we’re doing is creating a 30year business, not a threeyear one.’’

When government funding of $14.7 million over three years was confirmed for CSST in November 2016, the proposal was to have up to 40 fulltime equivalent (FTE) staff, about half of whom would be in Alexandra and the other half spread between offices in Dunedin, Lincoln and New Plymouth.

It was now anticipated 12 to 14 FTEs would be working for CSST by the end of this year but it was uncertain if any more would be employed after that, Mr Cotter said this week.

At present, CSST had five fulltime and two parttime staff, and was about to appoint three fulltime research scientists.

It was also unlikely that other offices would be opened outside of Alexandra.

The original business plan had been good, but the budgets were ‘‘too optimistic’’ and had to be changed, he said.

There would not be enough money to pay 40 FTEs and it was preferable to pay a smaller number of mostly fulltime, highly qualified staff well, rather than have a greater number of staff on lower salaries and working parttime.

The original business plan proposed some jobs as being 0.1 or 0.05 FTE equivalents.

Another significant change was CSST employing its own research scientists instead of outsourcing much of that work, as was proposed in the original business case.

The change would mean more research staff based in Alexandra instead of scientists being at city universities.

As well, CSST preferred to put funding that would have been spent on establishing and running three additional physical offices into research.

Other offices or additional staff would only be considered if CSST ‘‘really takes off’’.

Mr Cotter assured the Central Otago community that the head and possibly only physical office of CSST would always be in Alexandra. The board and staff were committed to developing products and services using space and earthbased data that could be used locally, nationally and internationally, and to boosting regional economies in New Zealand.

The ‘‘fastpaced’’ and changing nature of the space industry was exciting but had also contributed to the changes.

‘‘We basically have to be a startup in a really quickly evolving industry. The space business right now is very different from what it was two years ago [when the business case was developed], and the opportunities and the technology and everything is very different. So when the proposal was being written it was a different world.’’

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) manager strategic investments Danette Olsen said the MBIE funding CSST had received was ‘‘devolved funding, meaning how the institute best meets the obligations of its contract are at the discretion of CSST. As it has been noted, there have been significant market changes that mean some of the proposed methods of achieving CSST’s objectives no longer make sense. We expect CSST to be agile and responsive to changing conditions’’.

❛ What we’re doing is

creating a 30year business, not a three

year one