The Centre for Space Science Technology has been rebranded as Xerra Earth Observation Institute Ltd, but its mandate will remain the same, Xerra chief executive Steve Cotter says.
The rebrand was announced and came into effect this morning, "signified with a soft-launch of the Xerra-branded website and a range of new brand assets and collateral", Mr Cotter said.
Xerra is pronounced "zear-rah" and originates from the Latin word for Earth - Terra.
"The 'x' represents a multiplier. We interpret the word Xerra as 'multiple ways of viewing Earth'," Mr Cotter said.
He said "the people and capability of our organisation will remain the same, the only change is to our name and our visual identity as a brand".
"We're excited by the name change and the flexibility it offers us working with both our science and industry partners, here at home, and overseas . . . We look forward to continuing to help build the EO [Earth observation] market and space ecosystem here in New Zealand."
Xerra is based in Alexandra. Its predecessor, CSST, was established in July 2017 as a regional research institute with $14.7 million of government funding. Its mission is to help New Zealand's businesses, industries, government and research community access new and existing EO imagery and data and develop EO data products and solutions specific to users' needs.
It now has about 16 staff based in Alexandra and the rest of the country.
