The Warkworth 30m Radio Telescope is a radio telescope at the Spark Warkworth Station Site 2, located just south of Warkworth, New Zealand, about 50 km north of the Auckland CBD. It was operated by the Institute for Radio Astronomy and Space Research, Auckland University of Technology[1] until 3 July 2023. It is now operated by SpaceOps NZ under licence from Spark. The antenna was commissioned in 1984 by New Zealand Post Office for international telecommunications via a geostationary satellite.
Part of | Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory |
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Location(s) | New Zealand |
Coordinates | 36°26′00″S 174°39′46″E / 36.4332°S 174.6629°E |
Organization | Space Operations New Zealand Ltd |
Wavelength | C-Band, X-Band |
Built | 1983-84 |
First light | 4 July 2015 |
Telescope style | radio telescope |
Diameter | 100 ft (30.5 m) |
Location of Warkworth-2 | |
Related media on Commons | |
The telescope is a 30-metre Cassegrain wheel-and-track beam waveguide antenna. It was manufactured in 1983 by Nippon Electric Corp., and was first used by Telecom NZ for communication between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.