The Tekapo and Aoraki-Mt Cook area's bid to become a world heritage night sky reserve will be decided in June at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.
The area has been seeking the status since earlier this year to preserve its exceptional unpolluted skies with very low light pollution.
The bid has received a boost, with the case being selected for study.
Former New Zealand cabinet minister Margaret Austin is leading the bid and said a nationwide campaign would be launched before the Brasilia conference, to tell people about the "real and exciting potential" of the project.
There had been a reluctance to acknowledge stars and starlight were significant to human heritage under Unesco conventions.
"But there is a groundswell of public concern at the extent to which people no longer see the stars in so many parts of the world," she said.
The bid team was almost ready to present proposals to the World Heritage Committee at its Brasilia meeting.
