Welcome to SpaceTech Ireland — a fast, Ireland-focused read on the space economy.

This week: Ireland's student rocketry programme reaches a new milestone, Europe's most commercial space gathering sends a clear message on supply chains and compliance, and a cluster of EU funding deadlines - including one closing in two weeks.

The EIC Accelerator - one of the toughest funding competitions in European deep tech - has torn up its application process. Proposals have been cut from 50 pages to 20. The number of annual deadlines has jumped from two to six.

And the European Innovation Council has published a new annotated template that walks applicants through what evaluators now expect at every stage.

The 2026 programme is a substantially different process, covering everything from how to frame impact and IP strategy to how applicants must now disclose AI use. The template was produced by the Access2EIC network of National Contact Points, of which Enterprise Ireland is a member - though it has yet to publish its own local advisory on the changes.

Irish companies have secured 28 EIC Accelerator approvals totalling €175.5 million since Horizon Europe began in 2021. The programme offers grants of up to €2.5 million combined with equity investment of up to €10 million.

The next Step 2 full proposal deadline is 6 May 2026. The updated template is at access2eic.eu/the-new-2026-annotated-template-for-the-eic-accelerator-full-proposal

Paris Space Week drew more than 5,000 professionals from over 50 countries to what has become the calendar's most explicitly commercial space gathering.

The organisers bill it as a "100% business event," and the programme reflected that. Two sessions led by KPMG set much of the tone, focusing on digital transformation of space supply chains and the tightening grip of export controls on companies selling into international markets.

There was a clear message about changes in supply chains. Primes now expect suppliers to provide live visibility into their production processes — where a component sits in the manufacturing cycle, whether quality checks have passed, how it performs once deployed. The old model of placing an order and waiting for delivery is giving way to something closer to a live dashboard.

Key to that is the concept of a digital twin, allowing engineers to run simulations and anticipate problems without waiting for physical tests. For that to function across a supply chain, the data flowing from suppliers has to be clean, structured and machine-readable. This is a higher bar than many SMEs currently clear.

The export control session was equally direct. Space hardware and software is frequently subject to US export controls - ITAR, which governs defence-related technology, and EAR, which covers commercial items with potential security or military applications. These restrict who can access certain technologies, regardless of where the company making them is based.

An Irish firm using US-origin components or code can find itself subject to American licensing requirements before it sells to a third country, or even before it hires certain staff. European sovereignty measures are now adding another layer.

Speakers said compliance needs to be treated as a product architecture question, meaning companies must decide early which components and data flows are controlled and build the rules around them into their engineering and sales processes from the start.

The conference tackled four broader themes: Moon-to-Mars exploration as an industrial opportunity; Earth observation and connectivity monetisation; debris and traffic management; and space-derived health technology.

New Irish company Setanta Space was exhibiting at the Irish Pavilion, part of a strong Irish presence that included the Irish Space Association and Realtra Space Systems.

Tech moves fast, but you're still playing catch-up?

That's exactly why 200K+ engineers working at Google, Meta, and Apple read The Code twice a week.

Here's what you get:

All delivered twice a week in just 2 short emails.

Join 200K+ engineers

The EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has opened applications for the 2026 CASSINI Challenges, with twelve prizes of €100,000 each on offer for space-based solutions with proven commercial readiness.

This year's competition features a single track, a change from previous editions. EUSPA says the aim is to ensure each winning project has the strongest possible potential to become a commercial success story.

Applicants must have a minimum Technology Readiness Level of 5 and a minimum Commercial Readiness Level of 4. Solutions must leverage EU Space Programme assets - Galileo, Copernicus, GOVSATCOM, or space surveillance and tracking.

Applications must be submitted by March 26th.

The CASSINI Challenges are designed for what the industry calls downstream applications - businesses that take data from EU satellites such as Copernicus or Galileo and build commercial products and services on top of it. Companies developing satellite components, sensors, or spacecraft systems are upstream of that process and are not the intended applicants here.

Details: euspa.europa.eu/cassinichallenges

Europe's space funding picture this week is dominated by a landmark Spanish launch company raise, while several major EU grant windows open or approach deadline, creating direct pipeline opportunities for Irish space-facing companies.

PLD Space (Spain) -- €180 million Series C - Mitsubishi Electric Corporation led a €180 million Series C into PLD Space, the Spanish launch company developing the MIURA 5 small-satellite orbital rocket. Spanish public investors CDTI (through its INNVIERTE fund) and COFIDES (through its FOCO fund) participated alongside Nazca Capital's aerospace and defence fund. The round is explicitly framed around European autonomous launch capacity and space sovereignty - language that is becoming standard in European deep-tech fundraising as investors position themselves ahead of anticipated defence and dual-use spending growth.

Horizon Europe Cluster 4 -- Space calls 2026 (EU-wide, grants)

Several space-focused calls under Horizon Europe's Cluster 4 programme are now open, with two distinct windows. A group of single-stage calls opened on 10 March 2026 with a 3 September 2026 deadline; others opened 15 January with a 15 April deadline. Budgets range from roughly €2 million to €15 million per project depending on topic. Priority areas include EU autonomous access to space and spaceport infrastructure, Earth Observation and satcom digital enablers, and critical space technologies including in-space refuelling and irradiation test facilities. Irish companies eligible for Horizon Europe participation - and Enterprise Ireland has supported Irish applicants into consortium bids before - should be moving now on the April window and scoping partners for September.

We covered these Cluster 4 calls in detail two editions ago, breaking down the three that matter most for Irish companies: the digital building blocks call for EO and satcom software and systems (grants of €3-6 million), the demonstration missions call combining EO and satcom for real-world services like maritime monitoring and agriculture (€5-10 million), and a smaller but highly accessible scientific data exploitation call (€1.5-2.5 million) suited to university–SME teams and Irish data or AI companies. All three close 3 September. Enterprise Ireland's space team - Barry Jennings is the National Contact Point for Horizon Europe Space — and ICHEC can advise on consortium-building and applications.

EUSPA downstream space calls - €32.6 million (EU-wide, grants)

EUSPA is highlighting a €32.6 million call for projects that use satellite data to address societal applications, including energy, climate monitoring, and urban services. These are collaborative grants under Horizon Europe Pillar II rather than hardware contracts, which means the sweet spot is for companies building downstream applications on top of EO or positioning and navigation data. Irish companies working on satellite-enabled agriculture, maritime monitoring, or climate applications sit squarely in the target bracket.

The UK Space Agency has launched Skills for Space, offering 50 paid eight-week summer internships at space companies, each backed by a £6,000 grant.

Host organisations do not need to be traditional space companies: software, data analytics or engineering firms whose projects support space-related skills or capabilities also qualify.

Northern Ireland companies are eligible, giving the programme a cross-border dimension. That skills relationship already exists in practice. Resonate Testing, based in Newry, delivers training to space firms in the Republic through Space Industry Skillnet.

The programme responds to data showing 80 per cent of UK space organisations now report recruitment difficulties. Ireland faces similar pressures: the Beyond the Horizon report found 64 per cent of Irish space companies consider training costs prohibitive, with the sharpest gaps in systems engineering, RF design, FPGA development and quality assurance.

Intern applications close 3 April.

A University of Limerick student team is building Ireland's first 3D-printed liquid rocket engine, partnering with Irish Manufacturing Research's Advanced Manufacturing Lab in Mullingar.

The engine, named the Lúin of Celtchar after the legendary Irish spear, is a 2 kilonewton bi-propellant system burning isopropyl alcohol and nitrous oxide, manufactured using metal additive processes at IMR before returning to UL for finishing and assembly.

The Lúin is said to be unquenchable in battle - an apt name for an engine designed to burn.

The team, ULAS HiPR, has more than 100 members and has been accepted into Race2Space 2026, a UK-based international propulsion competition.

Jay Looney, co-head of ULAS HiPR, said acceptance into Race2Space "marks a defining moment not only for ULAS HiPR, but for Ireland's student space community."

IMR's Mullingar facility also houses ESA Phi-Lab Ireland, launched in February.

PICTURE: ESA’s SMILE spacecraft arrives at the European Spaceport in French Guiana after a transatlantic crossing. The Solar wing Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer is poised for launch between 8 April and 7 May on a Vega-C rocket.

Next week: more funding, contracts, and careers in Ireland's booming space economy - delivered weekly.

Know an Irish space startup we should cover?

Email [email protected]