The first months of CSST’s existence have put us in good stead for our next transition – from business start-up phase to operational.  We’ve had a series of Board meetings and a Trust meeting over the past few months, and are progressing with new hires (intros below).  We continue to actively interview candidates for the Director of Research role.

Much of our activity over the past couple months has been around getting out and talking to people – those involved in the original CSST proposal and others in regional industry, universities and international earth observations organisations as we expand our understanding of what the market is looking for and the products and services we might develop.  This work has led to our first purchase order for satellite imagery from Northern Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) to assist with repairs to earthquake-damaged roads.

Rafael, Emma and Steve attended the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide from 25-29 September.  It was a good opportunity to get the pulse of the global space industry and the disruption occurring with the emergence of entrepreneurial space companies.

Since then we have participated in several workshops and events, including:

• South Australia Space Forum;

• 2017 Met Soc Annual Conference;

• Winegrower’s Research Centre researchers stakeholder meeting;

• Antarctic Season Opening;

• Central Otago Innovation Hub workshop; and

• the FAST! strategy workshop to promote closer research collaboration between New Zealand and France.

We are looking forward to the year ahead, especially the second What on Earth Colloquium and the international ActInSpace hackathon.

Thank you to all of you who have supported CSST from it’s inception, those who have a vested interest in our success, and those who are just interested in what we’re up to.  We wish you all a relaxing and fun-filled holiday season.