96 Enterprise Ireland companies secured European Space Agency support last year

Enterprise Ireland publishes ESA End of Year Activities Report for 2022

The involvement of dynamic Irish companies and research organisations with the European Space Agency continued to flourish in 2022. Last year saw record growth in the number of Enterprise Ireland companies engaging with the European Space Agency (ESA)- 96 organisations in total, with 4 coming on stream in the last year alone. 

Enterprise Ireland client companies continue to make ground-breaking progress through the innovation of key technology housed on board space craft. For instance, Cork based Varadis supplied ionising radiation sensors that were installed on the uncrewed Artemis 1 that launched in 2022 to the moon. Furthermore, in 2022, Ubotica Technologies, announced CogniSat-6, the first AI-centric CubeSat mission to include autonomous features which will optimise image gathering on specific areas identified in orbit.

In line with the National Space Strategy for Enterprise, Irish companies are also increasingly utilising space technology to provide solutions in a range of non-space sectors such as energy, medical devices and agriculture.

The Earth Observation sector in Ireland, which uses data derived from satellites, is contributing to our understanding of the impacts of climate change and is developing climate adaptation and mitigation measures to address same. Irish companies are developing solutions that incorporate advanced satellite systems to address some of these challenges and their impacts on specific sectors, including agriculture, water quality and biodiversity as well as offshore and renewable energy. For instance, in 2022 Irish company Treemetrics signed a €1.2m contract with ESA to use satellite imaging to provide accurate forest carbon credit estimates. 

Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Neale Richmond TD, said: “I am delighted with the significant contribution Irish companies are making in the global space sector.   The findings of this Report show the depth and breadth of the expanding Irish Space industry.  We have companies delivering innovative technologies and services for both the space and non-space sector, helping us to address key challenges such as climate change, sustainability and technological innovation within the Space sector.  This is made possible by this Government’s continued investment in both European space activities and the European Space Agency.   The future of the Space sector in Ireland continues to be very promising; steady job growth and increasing economic activity in the space sector is very welcome. With an additional €3.3m being provided for the European Space Agency in Budget 2024, bringing Ireland’s funding to over €26m next year, I am confident that more space active companies in Ireland will enter into contracts with the European Space Agency in line with the objectives of our National Space Strategy for Enterprise”.   

Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland, said: “Ireland’s annual investment in ESA is directly aligned with the strategy and objectives of Enterprise Ireland to develop the R&D capability of Irish industry and support the creation of high potential start-up companies. Irish companies continued to offer innovative solutions to the global space sector in 2022, particularly through the inclusion of advanced technologies from other sectors which are addressing pressing global issues, in particular climate change and the carbon reduction agenda. We look forward to supporting innovative Irish companies to continue to make their mark in this deep tech sector now and in the future.”

Click here to download the ESA Annual Report 2022.