For a second straight day Rocket Lab has cancelled its first test-launch of its Electron rocket due to weather.
But it hasn't dampened the enthusiasm from locals near the launch site on the Mahia peninsula, who say the space programme is already revitalising the region.
Although Wairoa it might not look the part, it's now being dubbed the Gateway to the Galaxy. Yes, really.
"You need a point of difference and that's it for us", Wairoa District mayor Craig Little says. "It's put us on the international map. Little old Wairoa now is doing something the rest of New Zealand is not doing."
The town's turnaround is being attributed to Rocket Lab's space port. Specifically launch platform one, on the tip of Mahia peninsula. The plan is to launch a rocket for international customers once a week - more frequently than anywhere else in the world. That's a multi-billion dollar business.
It's estimated Rocket Lab will directly contribute up to $80 million a year to the New Zealand economy.
JC Electronics owner Jason Clough says even a fraction of that could make a huge difference to the town.
"[It would make a] real good impact. Jobs, trades, education, scholarships, and just skill building."
Jason Clough has owned a local business for 14 years and says it used to be a zombie town.
"It's definitely on the rise. We bottomed out a couple of years ago and we are building."
Like many small towns around the country, mayor Little says "the town was dying".
"One per cent of our population was leaving every year for the last 20 years... and I thought something was wrong."
No one ever thought New Zealand's first space programme would be the answer.
Futch Couper, whose family have been here for six generations, still can't believe it. He's even turned into a space nut.
"We're hoping they'll actually build a factory and build the rockets here at the airport and that will create a lot more work."
First though, Rocket Lab have to get into space. Their success could turn this backwater into our very own Cape Canaveral.
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