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

This week: Interest in Ireland's ESA Phi-Lab doubled this year, and more than half of this summer's applicants had no declared space background. We also name the four Irish companies that won their first European Space Agency contracts in the first half of the year. We report on ESA's Industry Space Days in the Netherlands, where Irish companies were well represented, and ask Réaltra whether Arianespace's new Ariane 6 orders will bring it more work. Who's Hiring has a full slate of roles, including two ESA posts closing this month.

Interest doubled this year, but only one or two projects will win funding, and the next chance to apply is likely to be next spring.

More than half of the companies that applied for European Space Agency funding through Phi-Lab Ireland this summer said they had no previous experience in the space industry.

The figure comes from Rob Conway-Kenny of Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR), the Mullingar-based organisation that runs the lab. The lab's head, Ken Horan, had pitched this year's call at companies "whether or not they have ever worked in space before".

Phi-Lab Ireland is one of 10 ESA-backed labs around Europe that help companies turn research into products for the space market. It offered up to €400,000 per project, for up to two years' work on new materials and manufacturing methods for hardware that goes into space.

Applications closed on 8 September, and the lab expects to fund one or two projects.

The number of companies getting in touch about applying doubled on last year, Conway-Kenny said. Application totals have not been released, and changes to the application process mean this year's figures cannot be compared directly with 2025.

“However if I compare all engagements with potential applicants, we doubled our numbers in this Open Call compared to last year, which was already a really strong start for Ireland versus the other Phi-Labs in the network,” he told SpaceTech Ireland.

The biggest jump came in an optional early check called the Technical Needs Assessment. The lab's engineers rate a project idea green, orange or red, and help the stronger ones prepare their bids. Take-up rose by 200%.

The red projects are advised not to apply for this round and given next steps for later calls.

"At first glance it might look like a barrier to entry for the programme, when in fact it greatly reduces the friction in applying for the Open Call," he said.

For companies that missed this round, Conway-Kenny said a strong proposal needs “a brilliant technical innovation, but also a serious plan to get that innovation to market”.

“Unfortunately, many applicants realise that too late.”

Many applicants had already approached space companies in other ESA member states before the call opened, either to secure letters of support or to join project ideas.

“One of the big goals of the Phi-LabNET programme is greater collaboration between companies and research institutes across ESA member states. In anticipation of this year’s call, it was obvious that many applicants had already spoken with space-active companies in other countries.”

Conway-Kenny said Phi-Lab supports companies on their commercial plans between calls. He invited prospective candidates to contact him directly for introductions through IMR’s network in Ireland and Europe.

No date has been set for the next call. Phi-Labs across the network have found that about 12 weeks is the right length for a call to stay open, Conway-Kenny said.

That gives applicants time to develop their ideas and secure letters of support to strengthen their proposal. On that basis he expects Phi-Lab Ireland’s next call in the spring of 2027, to avoid the Christmas period.

The four Irish companies that won their first European Space Agency contracts in the first half of 2026 are 3VA Studio, IONA Logistics, PulpoSemi and Timing Solutions.

The Department of Enterprise confirmed the names to SpaceTech Ireland following last week's International Space Summit in Paris. It also said that Irish companies won €12.9 million in ESA contracts in the first half of the year, spread across 33 contracts.

PulpoSemi, a semiconductor spin-out from Tyndall National Institute and UCC, makes integrated voltage regulators, which are chips that control the power supplied to processors. The company has been working on ways to power the computers carried on satellites.

Timing Solutions builds systems that provide precise time and location data. Its work includes technology to keep services running when satellite navigation signals such as GPS or Galileo are disrupted or lost.

IONA Logistics is developing drones that deliver goods without a pilot. The company plans to use satellite navigation and satellite communications to run deliveries in rural and remote areas.

3VA Studio is a Sligo-based software design and development studio specialising in websites, web applications and user interfaces. SpaceTech Ireland has asked the Department what work its ESA contract covers.

We have also asked for the value and purpose of each of the four companies' contracts, and for a breakdown of the €12.9 million across the 33 contracts.

Dublin space electronics company Réaltra is hoping a new batch of Ariane 6 launch deals will lead to more orders for the video equipment it supplies for the European rocket.

Arianespace announced seven agreements at the International Space Summit in Paris on 9 and 10 September. Four are launch contracts and three are preliminary agreements with European start-ups on future cooperation. Together they cover around ten launches, which Arianespace said was its biggest order intake since Ariane 6 entered service. The launch customers are Amazon Leo, Eutelsat, The Exploration Company and South Korean satellite operator KT SAT.

Amazon Leo ordered six additional flights to deploy its satellite internet network, bringing its total commitment with Arianespace to 24 launches. The extra missions are due to begin in 2029, with all 24 scheduled by 2031.

Réaltra already supplies VIKI, the rocket's onboard video equipment. Chief Innovation Officer Michael Martin said the new launch deals had yet to feed through to the company.

"Good news on the A6 launches. That hasn't come through to us yet but hopefully we will also see more orders," he told SpaceTech Ireland.

Martin said he expected Chief Commercial Officer Danny Gleeson to hold talks on future orders in the coming months. Gleeson has been on Réaltra’s stand A35 this week at ESA's Industry Space Days, a two-day event at ESTEC, the agency's technical centre in Noordwijk in the Netherlands. The event, which ends Thursday, is aimed at helping smaller companies win space business.

Irish companies and researchers were among the 2,500 or so people at ESA's Industry Space Days at the ESTEC facility in Noordwijk in the Netherlands on Wednesday and Thursday, the agency's main event for connecting small suppliers with contracts and partners.

Tyndall National Institute presented results from an ESA-funded project to prepare its RF MEMS devices, which are tiny mechanical switches that route radio signals, for qualification for use in space.

Cork-based Farran Technology, which builds high-frequency radio equipment, took a stand at the exhibition to pitch its satellite communications work.

Réaltra and Horizon One were also among the Irish companies there, along with Rob Conway-Kenny of Irish Manufacturing Research, which has managed ESA Phi-Lab Ireland since it joined ESA's Phi-LabNET network of national innovation labs in February.

"The event is held every two years, and when I was here two years ago I didn't hear many Irish accents. Delighted to see that even in two years we are going to be really well represented," he said.

🚀 FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched together from French Guiana on 15 September aboard a Vega-C rocket, the first time Vega-C has carried two satellites on one flight. FLEX is ESA's new mission to measure the faint glow plants give off during photosynthesis, giving scientists a way to track vegetation health worldwide. Sentinel-3C is the latest in the Copernicus programme's ocean and land monitoring satellites.

Open Cosmos (UK/Spain/Portugal/Greece) - equity raise - €300m - led by Lightrock funds satellite mass-manufacturing and ConnectedCosmos, OpenConstellation, and DataCosmos platform expansion.

IRIS² primes (Belgium/France/Germany) - contract awards - Aerospacelab €2.4bn, OHB ~€1bn, Thales Alenia Space ~€500m, Airbus (66-satellite Layer 1 contract, value undisclosed). Total project value €15.6bn.

The Exploration Company (France/Germany) - contract award - €760m The European space company has been awarded a service contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) worth €760 million to build and fly Europe’s first commercial cargo capsule to the International Space Station (ISS).

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ESA Kick-Starts

Rolling feasibility-study funding, up to €75,000 per contract at 75% coverage (maximum project cost €100,000), for six-month studies on satcom, Earth observation or navigation applications. Open to companies from ESA member states, including Ireland. Next evaluation batch: 30 October 2026. Apply via esa-star.

PICTURE: A SpaceX rocket lifts off from the California coast carrying a classified US military payload into orbit this week. SpaceX is now the US Space Force’s main ride into orbit, and increasingly one of its satellite builders as well.

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

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