The project’s success has already led to the funding and development of more space projects in Ireland.
The EIRSAT-1 has been on my radar – pun intended – for a while now. The tiny cuboid satellite, Ireland’s first-ever, has garnered much attention over its two-year lifespan as it orbited Earth to collect data for research and education.
But sadly, the project has come to an end, the University College Dublin (UCD) team behind the project said on 3 September, with the EIRSAT-1, short for Education Research Satellite-1, de-orbiting and burning up in the atmosphere.
EIRSAT-1 was launched into space in 2023, supported by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ‘Fly Your Satellite’ programme funded by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). The launch was the result of nearly six years of hard work.
It carried with it three payloads for its low-Earth orbit (LEO) mission, including the Gamma-Ray Module (GMOD) to detect gamma ray bursts, the Wave Based Control (WBC) module, which tested and validated a novel control system for advanced satellite pointing in space, and the ENBIO module, a materials testing platform to test the performance of thermal management coatings in LEO for the first time.
In its time, the GMOD detected 10 cosmological gamma-ray bursts and two solar flares, and over the course of the project, the EIRSAT-1 team published 24 academic journal and conference papers sharing the results of the research and technological developments, said UCD.
More than 50 students, mostly postgraduates in physics and mechanical and materials engineering, and some in computer science and mathematics, learned space systems skills not previously seen in Irish industry. These included 13 PhD students funded by Irish Research Council scholarships.
Furthermore, UCD launched a new ‘Spacecraft Operations’ module as part of an MSc in Space Science and Technology last year, developed by EIRSAT-1 lead systems engineer and chief operator Dr David Murphy. The course trained a further 20 students who gained experience operating the satellite in orbit.
The project’s success has directly supported the development and funding for more projects and programmes by UCD, including the National Space Subsystems and Payloads Initiative (NSSPI), a programme launched in March 2024 led by UCD’s Dr David McKeown – the engineering and WBC academic lead on EIRSAT-1 – with more than €7.9m in funding from the DETE’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.
The NSSPI project is developing next-generation satellite control systems using model-based design and hardware-in-the-loop testing to accelerate innovation in Irish space technology.
In addition, a new Research Ireland-funded project called GIFTS – Gamma-ray Investigation of the Full Transient Sky – builds on the success of GMOD and is led by UCD’s Prof Sheila McBreen. GIFTS is a 6U cubesat mission aimed at detecting and localising gamma-ray bursts, improving the sky coverage of existing gamma day bursts observations.
UCD C-Space has also been selected by ESA for a follow-on project called ComCubes led by Murphy, that will develop a cubesat swarm to deliver faster and more detailed information about gamma-ray bursts.
“Although it’s a sad day for the team, we’re proud that EIRSAT-1 has reached the end of its mission having achieved all of its goals. We’re keen to apply what we have learned, building new missions, and collaborating to grow Ireland’s space sector,” said Prof Lorraine Hanlon, the director of the EIRSAT-1 project and UCD C-Space, the Centre for Space Research.
Dr Padraig Doolan, the Irish delegation to ESA at Enterprise Ireland said: “The successful conclusion of EIRSAT-1 marks a milestone for Ireland’s space sector. It shows how Ireland not only participates, but also leads, complex space missions from design through to operations.
“The mission is also a strong example of academia and industry working hand in hand, and Irish companies providing critical technologies and expertise.
“Enterprise Ireland is proud to have supported this trailblazing mission, and we are excited to work with our partners to build on its success, accelerating Ireland’s growth as a space-faring nation.”
Suhasini Srinivasaragavan
This article originally appeared on www.siliconrepublic.com and can be found here
The EIRSAT-1 has been on my radar – pun intended – for a while now. The tiny cuboid satellite, Ireland’s first-ever, has garnered much attention over its two-year lifespan as it orbited Earth to collect data for research and education.
But sadly, the project has come to an end, the University College Dublin (UCD) team behind the project said on 3 September, with the EIRSAT-1, short for Education Research Satellite-1, de-orbiting and burning up in the atmosphere.
EIRSAT-1 was launched into space in 2023, supported by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ‘Fly Your Satellite’ programme funded by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). The launch was the result of nearly six years of hard work.
It carried with it three payloads for its low-Earth orbit (LEO) mission, including the Gamma-Ray Module (GMOD) to detect gamma ray bursts, the Wave Based Control (WBC) module, which tested and validated a novel control system for advanced satellite pointing in space, and the ENBIO module, a materials testing platform to test the performance of thermal management coatings in LEO for the first time.
In its time, the GMOD detected 10 cosmological gamma-ray bursts and two solar flares, and over the course of the project, the EIRSAT-1 team published 24 academic journal and conference papers sharing the results of the research and technological developments, said UCD.
More than 50 students, mostly postgraduates in physics and mechanical and materials engineering, and some in computer science and mathematics, learned space systems skills not previously seen in Irish industry. These included 13 PhD students funded by Irish Research Council scholarships.
Furthermore, UCD launched a new ‘Spacecraft Operations’ module as part of an MSc in Space Science and Technology last year, developed by EIRSAT-1 lead systems engineer and chief operator Dr David Murphy. The course trained a further 20 students who gained experience operating the satellite in orbit.
The project’s success has directly supported the development and funding for more projects and programmes by UCD, including the National Space Subsystems and Payloads Initiative (NSSPI), a programme launched in March 2024 led by UCD’s Dr David McKeown – the engineering and WBC academic lead on EIRSAT-1 – with more than €7.9m in funding from the DETE’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.
The NSSPI project is developing next-generation satellite control systems using model-based design and hardware-in-the-loop testing to accelerate innovation in Irish space technology.
In addition, a new Research Ireland-funded project called GIFTS – Gamma-ray Investigation of the Full Transient Sky – builds on the success of GMOD and is led by UCD’s Prof Sheila McBreen. GIFTS is a 6U cubesat mission aimed at detecting and localising gamma-ray bursts, improving the sky coverage of existing gamma day bursts observations.
UCD C-Space has also been selected by ESA for a follow-on project called ComCubes led by Murphy, that will develop a cubesat swarm to deliver faster and more detailed information about gamma-ray bursts.
“Although it’s a sad day for the team, we’re proud that EIRSAT-1 has reached the end of its mission having achieved all of its goals. We’re keen to apply what we have learned, building new missions, and collaborating to grow Ireland’s space sector,” said Prof Lorraine Hanlon, the director of the EIRSAT-1 project and UCD C-Space, the Centre for Space Research.
Dr Padraig Doolan, the Irish delegation to ESA at Enterprise Ireland said: “The successful conclusion of EIRSAT-1 marks a milestone for Ireland’s space sector. It shows how Ireland not only participates, but also leads, complex space missions from design through to operations.
“The mission is also a strong example of academia and industry working hand in hand, and Irish companies providing critical technologies and expertise.
“Enterprise Ireland is proud to have supported this trailblazing mission, and we are excited to work with our partners to build on its success, accelerating Ireland’s growth as a space-faring nation.”
Suhasini Srinivasaragavan
This article originally appeared on www.siliconrepublic.com and can be found here
