Dawn Aerospace has used Glentanner Aerodrome for the first test flights of its Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane.
However, chief executive Stefan Powell said Oamaru Airport was still being considered as a site for more high-performance testing in the future.
Dawn Aerospace is creating reusable and sustainable space technologies — suborbital and orbital rocket-powered planes.
The Mk-II is a suborbital plane designed to fly 100km above the earth, and the company’s aim is for it to be the first vehicle to access space multiple times per day.
"The team have successfully captured extensive data enabling further [research and development] on the capability of Mk-II," Mr Powell said.
"We are delighted with the results and demonstrating rapid turnaround — we conducted five flights within three days, and two flights occurred within 90 minutes of each other."
The next step was to push up the performance — "fly higher, fly faster".
"Eventually, we’ll get to the limits of what jet engines can do and then we’ll put a rocket engine on it and go fly higher and faster again, and eventually outside of the atmosphere, and eventually to space."
The company hoped to move to rocket-powered flight testing early next year.
The rocket engine was in the later stages of testing.
In January last year, Dawn Aerospace signed a memorandum with the Waitaki District Council that made launching its space planes from Oamaru Airport a possibility.
"Oamaru certainly is one of many places we could fly much more high performance tests from," Mr Powell said.
"Because Oamaru’s on the coast, we can go out, we can go fly over water, it’s just generally much more appropriate for doing higher performance missions."
Dawn Aerospace had an unmanned aircraft operator certificate, authorised under Civil Aviation Rule part 102, to fly Mk-II Aurora spaceplane from a conventional airport without exclusive airspace restrictions, and integrated well with other airspace operators at Glentanner Aerodrome, Mr Powell said.
"Fixed-wing aircraft and local helicopter companies continued their operations unaffected. It’s fantastic being part of the Glentanner Aerodrome community."
Christchurch-headquartered Dawn Aerospace also has a major facility in the Netherlands.
About 50 people are now employed across both locations.
