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Space Tech Expo Europe runs from 18-20 November in Bremen, Germany, and Ireland is mounting its most significant showing yet at the continent's largest space industry gathering.

Enterprise Ireland has organised an Irish pavilion featuring the country's leading space companies, a coordinated push to demonstrate Ireland's capabilities to the European space supply chain.

With more than 950 exhibitors, 10,000 attendees and 200 speakers expected, it's the sort of event where contracts get signed and partnerships form.

🇮🇪 Farran Technology (Booth Y13) - The Cork company brings decades of experience in millimetre-wave systems, the high-frequency radio technology essential for satellite communications and Earth observation. They'll showcase ground terminals, test systems and RF components operating at frequencies up to 500 GHz — all specialised equipment that makes satellite data links work.

🇮🇪 Celtonn (Booth Y13) - The NovaUCD-based startup is the only Irish company selected for the 2025 CASSINI Business Accelerator, Europe's largest space start-up programme. They'll pitch at the CASSINI Demo Day during the expo, which is a significant platform given they're currently closing a €1.5 million funding round. Founded in 2023, Celtonn develops high-frequency communications and sensing technologies for space and radar applications.

🇮🇪 Mbryonics - The Shannon and Galway-based company describes itself as "building the internet in space" - specifically, developing optical communications technology that uses lasers instead of radio waves to connect satellites. Their product line includes inter-satellite links, ground stations and radiation-hardened components. Mbryonics announced 125 new jobs in September and previously secured €17.5 million from the European Innovation Council.

🇮🇪 Réaltra Space Systems Engineering - Dublin-based and fully Irish-owned, Réaltra manufactures space electronics and avionics systems. The company contributed to Ariane 6's second flight in March 2025, a practical demonstration their systems work at the level European launchers require. They'll exhibit their complete avionics range, positioning themselves as a credible supplier to major launch vehicle and satellite programmes.

🇮🇪 Ubotica Technologies (Booth C54) - The Dublin company develops artificial intelligence systems for Earth-observing satellites, enabling spacecraft to process imagery onboard rather than sending everything to ground stations. They've partnered with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on dynamic targeting—allowing satellites to identify and photograph events autonomously.

🇮🇪 Emerald Aero Group - The aerospace cluster organisation represents Irish companies specialising in advanced manufacturing and precision engineering for aerospace applications. Their presence signals Ireland's broader manufacturing capabilities beyond pure space technology.

UCD spin-out Equal1 secured a landmark partnership with the European Space Agency on 10 November, marking one of the biggest Irish space tech announcements of the week.

The quantum computing company will install its Bell-1 computing system at ESA's research laboratory in Italy as part of a programme exploring how quantum technology can improve Earth observation.

This makes Equal1 one of the first companies to host a quantum computer at ESA.

The system will process complex satellite data for climate modelling, weather forecasting and disaster monitoring — areas where traditional computers struggle with the sheer volume and complexity of information.

Quantum computers use the principles of quantum mechanics to tackle certain calculations far more efficiently than conventional machines. They are particularly suited to problems involving enormous datasets or intricate patterns, exactly what comes from analysing satellite imagery of Earth’s climate systems.

The Bell-1 system will slot into ESA's existing computing infrastructure at the agency's innovation lab, where researchers test emerging technologies for space applications.

Equal1's NovaUCD-based team of 45 employees has built the machine using silicon-based quantum technology, which offers practical advantages for scaling up these systems as the technology matures.

It’s a significant win for Ireland’s space sector. Equal1 is competing in a field dominated by major international players, and securing ESA as a client shows the company’s technology is ready for serious scientific work.

The European Space Agency opened applications in early November for its 2026 Student Internship Programme, with the deadline of November 30, 2025. If you're applying, here's what improves your chances:

If you’ve ever looked at an Apollo photo and wondered how anyone actually captured it, here’s an interactive story that tells the tale of lunar photography. It traces the path from early blurry telescopic plates to the engineered images of modernity, and how those photos changed how we see the Moon from Earth.

👉 Read it here: NYT Gift Article

Dr Niels Warburton from University College Dublin was elected head of the LISA Consortium on 6 November.

Over the next two years, he'll lead a community of more than 1,000 scientists, researchers and engineers working on one of the most ambitious space missions ever attempted: detecting gravitational waves from orbit.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time itself, caused by cosmic events like colliding black holes or neutron stars. Einstein predicted their existence in 1915, but scientists only detected them directly in 2015 using ground-based instruments.

The problem with Earth-based detectors is they're limited in what they can observe—local vibrations and the planet's own movements create interference.

That's where LISA comes in.

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will use three spacecraft flying in formation 2.5 million kilometres apart, connected by laser beams that measure distances with extraordinary precision.

Operating in the silence of space, LISA will detect gravitational waves at frequencies impossible to capture on Earth. It will open a window onto events from the early universe and supermassive black hole mergers.

It's a European Space Agency mission, but the science involves researchers from across the globe.

Warburton's election puts an Irish scientist at the centre of coordinating this international effort, managing everything from the technical development to the scientific priorities for when the mission launches in the mid-2030s.

UCD's Relativity Group has already demonstrated Ireland's growing prominence in this field, hosting 400 researchers at the 2024 International LISA Symposium.

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