Awarua Ground Station, located at the southern end of New Zealand's South Island, is often regarded as being at the uttermost ends of the Earth. However, Awarua's location, along with a ＜ 3° horizon, radio quiet and good infrastructural support makes it ideal for existing and emerging satellite operations-especially for ISS and polar orbits-and certain LEOPs. Uniquely, Awarua Ground Station is owned by a local government business development agency, absent a national space agency. It was developed in 2008 to support ESA's Ariane 5 A TV campaigns. More recently, the station has expanded, primarily hosting antennas and electronics required by commercial small-sat satellite operators and launchers, with different cultures to those of the established space agencies. This experience of developing ground stations for experienced and new operators, who may have little ground station experience or interest in building ground stations, and no prior experience of the New Zealand environment, is described. Challenges of establishing a new ground station in a country that does not have a space agency are discussed. In particular the management of expectations and accommodating different cultures-perhaps not obvious in a sector that focuses on technology, but vital to effective station establishment and operations-are investigated and conclusions drawn.
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