New Zealand will play an integral part in a mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday by tracking an unmanned spacecraft that is heading there.
The Johannes Kepler supply craft will be launched on a rocket from French Guiana in South America just after 11am.
It will be tracked by a facility at Awarua Station near Invercargill.
The European Space Agency says the station is the ideal location from which to monitor the cargo ship's progress because the ship will pass over the south of the country about an hour after its launch.
The agency says the ship will be carrying essential supplies and will lend its thrusters to reboost the space station in its orbit.
