Dawn Aerospace is building spaceplanes and in-space propulsion systems from the South Island of New Zealand—but it didn’t start that way. In this keynote, Charlie North shares the journey from a humble backyard shed to global impact, reflecting on the deeper truths of manufacturing. It’s not about hype or heroics, but people, process, and purpose. This is a call to action for New Zealand industry: aim high, build well, and back ourselves. Register for this keynote session here.
Charlie is part of the operations team at Dawn Aerospace, a New Zealand-founded space technology company developing in-space propulsion systems and a reusable supersonic spaceplane. With a presence across New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, and the USA, Dawn operates at the cutting edge of the new space economy.
Based in Christchurch, Charlie has played a central role in establishing Dawn's New Zealand manufacturing facilities — building the operational foundations needed to produce space hardware at pace. His work spans both propulsion and spaceplane programmes, and extends into ERP systems and process improvement, translating the complexity of aerospace manufacturing into scalable, repeatable operations.