’Dream of a lifetime’: UCD students successfully launch Ireland’s first satellite

Students from University College Dublin (UCD) have successfully launched Ireland’s first satellite.

EIRSAT-1 took off Friday evening aboard a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The satellite is emblazoned with the poem All Ways Home, written by 12 Irish schoolchildren working as part of a collaborative project across Ireland.

Congratulating those behind the project, Neil Richmond TD expressed his pride at recognizing the launch as an official Irish space mission.

Some of those involved in the six-year project (Image: Courtesy of UCD)

„I am truly proud to see EIRSAT-1 proudly lead the way in history with the launch of Ireland’s first satellite,” said the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail.

„I know a lot of people have dedicated years to getting to this moment, maybe they’ve only dreamed of it until now.”

He added: „With Ireland now in space for the first time, it is fulfilling the lifelong dream of many who reach for the stars.”

„So once again my heartiest congratulations to everyone involved in making history and where EIRSAT-1 leads, many more may follow.”

’Significant Step’

The culmination of six years of work by UCD students, EIRSAT-1 was developed under the Fly Your Satellite program developed by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Miniature Cube Satellite, or CubeSat, was designed, built and tested at UCD under the direction of ESA.

After EIRSAT-1 was confirmed to have been successfully launched into low Earth orbit, UCD President Professor Orla Feeley said it was a 'significant step forward’ for Ireland in space education.

🇮🇪🚀🌌#EIRSAT1 Ireland’s first satellite makes history!

Revisit the historical release below pic.twitter.com/jlqXhJcXxt

— ESA (@esa) December 1, 2023

„What a satisfying moment this must be for the Irish team: a significant first for the scientific community in Ireland,” he said.

„With ESA’s expertise in building and testing satellites and space systems combined with the scientific expertise here at University College Dublin, Ireland’s first satellite EIRSAT-1 has now successfully been launched and reached its orbit around Earth.

„From their initial proposals to ESA six years ago, to the cleanroom and mission control located on the UCD campus, where students will operate EIRSAT-1 while in orbit, and of course the engineering and construction of the satellite, the UCD team has made a significant step towards space education, research and capacity building in Ireland. „

Experiments

The collaboration between the agency and the university will 'make space ambitions a reality’, said ESA’s Director General Joseph Aschbacher.

„I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate the EIRSAT-1 team on this successful launch and the start of Ireland’s first exciting adventure into orbit,” he said.

“I would like to thank UCD for partnering with ESA for a common educational objective of raising the skills of the younger generation.

„Only by building capacity can we make our space ambitions for Ireland and Europe a reality.”

EIRSAT-1 is a miniature cube satellite or CubeSat (Image: Courtesy of UCD)

Now that it is in low-Earth orbit, EIRSAT-1 will perform three tests and report the data back to its command center at UCD.

Its primary mission is to study gamma-ray bursts, the most luminous events in the universe, and it will do so with a miniature detector built into its frame.

Its other payload includes equipment to carry out a thermal coating study to evaluate the effectiveness of surface treatments for satellites developed in Ireland.