A computer-generated image of Rocket Lab's first proposed launch site, in Canterbury. Now it is looking at a second site on the Mahia Peninsula.

A remote piece of farmland near the East Coast settlement of Mahia could become a satellite launch base if plans by New Zealand company Rocket Lab get off the ground.

Auckland-based Rocket Lab is working towards an ambitious goal of becoming a global satellite launching company and is eyeing an isolated site on the Mahia Peninsula, in northern Hawke's Bay, as a potential launch site.

Last month the company said it had identified a site near Birdlings Flat, in a remote part of Canterbury, as a suitable launch location.

With strong interest being shown from potential customers in the launch service it plans to offer, Rocket Lab is now consulting with the community before lodging a resource consent application with Wairoa District Council to establish a second launch site on farmland near the southern tip of the Mahia Peninsula.

The proposed site is Onenui Station, owned by the Tawapata South Maori Incorporation. A spokesman for the incorporation, George Mackey, said he was excited about the potential development, and discussions were under way with major shareholders to seek their support.

"Wouldn't it be great to have a sign up that says 'Wairoa – Gateway to the Galaxy'?" Mackey said.

"When I think about all this, I am left with this sense that our community will be linked to the development of these new innovative celestial waka."

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said he was pleased Rocket Lab was interested in establishing itself in the district.

"Attracting and supporting new businesses to the district is so important for Wairoa. With new businesses come a workforce, their families, new skills and new opportunities for our community.

"Looking at ways of growing our population is vital for Wairoa and these conversations with businesses like Rocket Lab are the first step in doing that."

Rocket Lab aims to build its business by using new technology including a lightweight carbon fibre rocket design to significantly reduce the cost of launching satellites.

Last year 19 orbital rockets were launched in the United States at an average cost of US$132 million each – a price affordable only to governments and big corporations.

Rocket Lab's planned launch price of US$4.9million would enable smaller companies and research and environmental groups to get their own satellites into orbit.

Chief executive Peter Beck has said Rocket Lab aims to create about 200 jobs and already has about 30 launches booked.

If the venture succeeds, New Zealand would join countries such as Iran, Israel, India, North and South Korea and Argentina, as well as the great powers, in staging successful rocket launches.