New Zealand’s intelligence service has said it disrupted an attempt by China’s Purple Mountain Observatory to install ground-based space equipment capable of collecting intelligence of military value.
NZSIS assessed that Purple Mountain Observatory’s links to the Chinese regime meant that it could be compelled to provide collected information. In this case, the agency said, the data would have been passed on willingly.
NZSIS said it worked with other New Zealand agencies to disrupt the activity. The service also said this was not Purple Mountain Observatory’s first attempted installation of such infrastructure in New Zealand and that further attempts were likely.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) told The Epoch Times that the transitional authorization held by the New Zealand entity involved in the case was revoked.
Authorities have not disclosed the proposed site, the specific equipment involved, the identity of the New Zealand company, or the exact timing of the attempt.
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Why New Zealand Matters
Ground-based space infrastructure, or GBSI, includes ground stations and related equipment used to track satellites, communicate with them, monitor space debris, and receive data from orbit.
The technology has civilian and scientific uses, but NZSIS said it can also support military operations and intelligence collection.
New Zealand’s location gives such stations particular value. The agency said New Zealand and nearby Pacific island countries can observe or communicate with satellites crossing the Asia-Pacific region with relatively little radio frequency interference or visual obstruction.
For some orbital paths, a station in New Zealand can provide the first or last opportunity to track or contact a satellite moving through an area with sparse ground coverage, according to NZSIS.
New Zealand is also a member of the Five Eyes intelligence partnership with the United States, Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Purple Mountain Observatory
Purple Mountain Observatory is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its official materials describe work involving the detection and observation of objects in space, orbit prediction, space debris monitoring, and optical observation equipment.
NZSIS identified the observatory as a China-based organization with close links to the Chinese regime.
In the same annual assessment, NZSIS said that several countries conduct espionage against New Zealand but that China is the only country it has detected “doing it at scale.”
Authorization Revoked on National-Security Grounds
New Zealand began regulating certain ground-based space infrastructure in July 2025. Under the transitional system, operators were treated as having authorization until the new regulations came into force.
Virginia Fenton, MBIE’s manager of space regulatory systems, told The Epoch Times that the transitional authorization for the New Zealand entity involved in the Purple Mountain case was revoked and that such authorizations could only be varied, suspended, or revoked on national-security grounds.
Overseas Scrutiny
Concerns over Chinese access to overseas satellite ground stations have surfaced elsewhere.
In 2020, Sweden’s state-owned Swedish Space Corp. said it would stop renewing contracts with Chinese customers and would take no new Chinese business involving its ground station network.
NZSIS has not disclosed how many earlier Purple Mountain Observatory installation attempts it identified or whether any became operational.
