IRELAND IS SET to launch its first satellite with the European Space Agency (ESA) early next year.
The satellite, known as the Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 (EIRSAT-1), is being developed and built by the UCD School of Physics and is planned to be launched within the next few months by the ESA.
The EIRSAT-1 project was initially started in 2017 and is the size of the shoebox. While in orbit, it will collect data from three separate experiments within, including detecting gamma rays in low Earth orbit.
Earlier today, the Cabinet agreed to an exchange of letters between the Government and the ESA, which is necessary to progress the project ahead of the launch.
The letters will recognise the satellite as an Irish space mission and register EIRSAT-1 on the UN’s Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
EIRSAT-1 is expected to be launched from the ESA’s launch site in French Guiana within the coming months and potentially before the end of the year.
It will orbit 520km above Earth’s surface in what is known as low Earth orbit.
It’s understood that Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who brought the letters to Cabinet, briefed Ministers of the potential positive impacts from the EIRSAT-1 project.
These include additional skills and a knowledge base for Ireland to become more competitive within the space sector.
The satellite itself has been entirely designed, developed, built and tested within UCD, and is the flagship project for the Centre of Space Research within UCD.
The cost of launching the satellite are set to be covered by the ESA.
The three experiments to be carried out on the satellite include detecting gamma ray bursts and sending data back to the team in UCD. These bursts are emitted upon the death of massive stars and are detected close to Earth from galaxies that may be billions of light years away.
The second aim of the satellite is the testing of EMOD, a type of heat-resistant paint developed by Irish company Enbio. The experiment will see how the protective coatings perform in space. EMOD consists of two black panels and two white panels which will have their temperature monitored.
EIRSAT-1 has an “off the shelf” attitude (or pointing direction) control system at present but the team will upload their algorithm at some point during the mission. This third experiment will allow the team to control the orientation of the satellite using the Wave Based Control (WBC) technique developed by the dynamics and control group in the UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.
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