In its recently announced budget for 2024, Ireland has increased its contribution to ESA for the year by €3.3 million.
“Ireland’s commitment to the European Space Agency and Ireland’s space-active industry is steadfast,” Minister of State for Business, Employment, and Retail Neale Richmond said. “Additional funding of €3.3m is an investment that delivers a clear return for so many Irish businesses.”
The additional allocation brings the country’s total contribution to ESA for 2024 to €26 million.
According to an Enterprise, Trade, and Employment press release, the additional ESA funding for 2024 is to be used to “support enterprises that develop and trial technology solutions via space applications.”
During the Institute of International and European Affairs, “Space: A New Frontier for Ireland?” event held on 13 October, junior minister for space Neale Richmond outlined the clear benefit the country’s continued contributions to ESA are having on Irish businesses.
“The number of Irish companies who have secured contracts with the European Space Agency has grown from 60 in 2017 to 97 in 2022,” said Richmond. He went on to explain that the value of the contracts secured by Irish business in 2022 alone was €13.5 million.
Ireland is also currently working on launching the country’s first satellite.
The Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 (EIRSAT-1) is a 2U CubeSat developed by a University College Dublin team. The satellite was developed with support from the Education Office of the European Space Agency under its Fly Your Satellite! programme.
The EIRSAT-1 project had a budget of €1.5 million and was funded by the Irish Research Council, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Science Foundation Ireland, and ESA. The satellite will carry three technology demonstration payloads: a novel gamma-ray detector, thermal control coatings, and an attitude control algorithm.
EIRSAT-1 is expected to be launched aboard the first Ariane 6 flight in 2024.
