Ireland’s first satellite, EIRSAT-1, will be launched into space from the European Space Agency centre in French Guiana between the end of January and the end of February for a 4-year mission.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the initiative is a “big moment” for the Irish space sector, as well as potentially a “huge spin-off” for Irish businesses and universities.
He was speaking after signing letters with the European Space Agency, to facilitate the launch of a satellite that was designed and built by academic staff and students from University College Dublin.
Varadkar said Ireland increased its financial contribution to the European Space Agency, but this was repaid “in multiples” as Irish airlines and aerospace companies subsequently secured contracts from ESA.
Varadkar said EIRSAT-1 has been led by a talented team from UCD, which will position Ireland “to benefit from global space industry growth in the coming decades,” reports RTE.
UCD Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact Professor Orla Feely said the EIRSAT-1 team worked “tirelessly for five years” on what she described as “this challenging mission” , noting a strong involvement of doctoral students in the project.
The director of the UCD C-Space Center and the EIRSAT-1 project, Professor Lorraine Hanlon, said it was “a huge milestone” for the mission that the required agreements were signed today, following the approval of the Cabinet earlier this month.
The Irish Educational Research Satellite 1, or EIRSAT-1, has received funding from Science Foundation Ireland, Irish Research Council, Enterprise Ireland, UCD, Openet, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the European Space Education Resource Office.
Hopefully, the satellite will tell us more about the formation of the universe. It has a control system that will allow it to transform into a magnet and react against the Earth’s magnetic field.
A poem is also engraved on the satellite, the house and the universe.
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