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

This week: Isar Aerospace goes for orbit again tonight from Norway - a successful launch would make Spectrum the first privately built European rocket to reach space. In Galway, Mbryonics lays out a production roadmap targeting tens of thousands of optical terminals by 2028, backed by €17.5 million in funding and a growing list of customers including DARPA and ESA. Meanwhile, Manna's $50 million raise puts 300 STEM jobs into the Irish labour market over the next 18 months.

Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket makes its third orbital launch attempt from Andoya Spaceport in Norway today (April 9 at 9:00 pm Irish Time). The mission - designated “Onward and Upward” - carries five CubeSats and one experiment under ESA’s Boost! programme, including payloads from TU Berlin, University of Maribor, EnduroSat, NTNU and TU Wien Space Team.

The rocket's first flight was in March 2025, ending spectacularly after just 30 seconds when a vent valve opened unexpectedly. The rocket came crashing down, but the company demonstrated two-stage ignition.

The "Onward and Upward" mission - the first carrying actual customer payloads - was scrubbed in late March at T-3 seconds when an unauthorised vessel entered the safety exclusion zone around Andoya, closing the window before the range could clear.

That scrub came days after Isar confirmed it was in talks to raise €250 million at a €2 billion valuation. The company has raised more than €600 million to date and is building a Munich facility capable of producing up to 40 Spectrum rockets per year, all without clearing the pad.

Why it matters for Irish space companies: Spectrum targets the same LEO small satellite market as Rocket Lab's Electron, and it is designed specifically for ESA, EU defence and European commercial customers.

Companies like Réaltra - supplier of video telemetry systems for Ariane 6 - are in exactly the right position to bid into the Isar supply chain as volume builds. Another failure will delay the timeline by which European launch becomes a viable alternative to US providers.

Watch live: https://isaraerospace.com/mission-updates-overview

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Galway-based Mbryonics is scaling production from hundreds of optical communications terminals to tens of thousands by 2028, CEO John Mackey confirmed in a Q&A with Business & Finance this week. The company has secured €17.5 million in funding and is growing its team beyond 125 as it shifts from R&D into active production of its StarCom terminal.

Construction of the Shannon Photon-2 manufacturing facility is underway, with a third plant - Photon-3 - already in planning. Mackey flagged Europe's €10 billion-plus IRIS² secure connectivity programme as a major commercial opportunity, and said he expects flight-proven missions to be operational by 2027.

The company counts DARPA, ESA and commercial satellite operators among its customers.

Separately, co-founder David Mackey noted a milestone from US startup K2 Space, which reported mission success for Gravitas - its first satellite - within a week of launch.

K2 is building satellite buses with significantly more power than the current standard, relevant for Mbryonics given that optical terminals are among the more power-hungry payloads a satellite can carry.

Manna Air Delivery is hiring 300 people in Ireland over the next 18 months - across robotics, software engineering, mechanical engineering, aviation operations and regulatory functions - following last week's $50 million Series B. Global headcount will grow from 170 to over 570.

For Irish space companies, the competition for talent is the story. The technologies used by Manna - autonomous navigation, real-time sense-and-avoid, low-altitude airspace management - draw from the same engineering disciplines as space-enabled systems.

Three hundred STEM roles landing in the Irish market over 18 months will be felt across the sector.

Manna's $50 million Series B, announced last week, brought total capital raised to $110 million. Investors include ARK Invest, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Schooner Capital, alongside existing backers Coca-Cola HBC, Molten Ventures and Enterprise Ireland.

Dublin-based Ubotica Technologies features in a new ESA review of onboard artificial intelligence for Earth observation - a paper that argues the old model of collecting vast amounts of satellite imagery and processing it all on the ground is no longer viable.

Ubotica has co-authored research with lead author Roberto Del Prete and ESA Phi-lab colleagues on onboard processing of raw satellite imagery, and its CogniSAT processors are already in commercial use for in-orbit AI applications including maritime surveillance.

The review charts a broader industry shift toward satellites that can detect, filter and act on information while still in orbit - from cloud filtering and ship detection to wildfire monitoring.

ESA backs OHB’s Arctic weather sats - ESA signed a €248m contract with OHB Sweden to build 20 small satellites for EUMETSAT’s EPS‑Sterna Arctic weather constellation, the largest satellite contract yet for Sweden’s space sector. Useful bellwether for Irish and European SMEs chasing climate and meteorology constellations.

PAVE Space closes $40m seed round - Swiss startup PAVE Space announced a $40m seed round led by Visionaries Club and Creandum to develop orbital‑transfer vehicles that can move satellites between orbits in under 24 hours. It’s one of Europe’s largest seed rounds in space to date and a clear benchmark for anyone pitching in‑orbit logistics or servicing from this side of the Atlantic.

ESA IRIS² - Mission Concept and Government Services Studies (bids close 18 May 2026)

ESA has opened a tender under the EU's IRIS² secure connectivity programme for studies refining mission concepts and testing government services ahead of full system deployment. Contracts worth up to €1.5 million each. Clarification deadline 11 May; bids close 18 May. Tenderers must register with esa-star before applying.

ESA BASS Kick-starts - Open Call (next batch closing May 29, 2026)

Six-month feasibility studies into space-enabled services: 75% funded by ESA, up to €75,000 per study (max project cost €100,000). Any company in an ESA BASS member state - Ireland qualifies - working on a space-enabled application for any sector can apply. Proposals evaluated in batches; next deadline May 29, 2026 at 13:00 CET. Apply: https://business.esa.int/funding/open-call-for-proposals-kick-starts

ESA BASS Growth Projects - ACCESS Programme (watch; not yet formally open)

ESA is preparing a new BASS Growth Projects call under its ACCESS programme, targeting companies with proven concepts ready to move into new markets. Announced March 2026, not yet formally launched. Watch https://business.esa.int for the formal call. Aimed at companies that have already completed earlier BASS-funded work - Irish companies with a completed Kick-start or Feasibility Study are the likely candidates.

ESA BASS Proof-of-Concept Studies & Pilot Projects - Open Call (rolling)

ESA's BASS programme also funds proof-of-concept studies (to validate a service concept and build an MVP) and pilot projects (to test a space-enabled service with real customers in an operational setting). Both calls are permanently open - any company in an ESA member state, including Ireland, can apply at any time. Details and applications: business.esa.int

ESA Phi-Lab Ireland — Second Call (expected later 2026)

Following Mbryonics and Ubotica as first winners, a second seed call will open later in 2026. Targets advanced manufacturing, materials, AI, quantum or robotics with space applications. Watch Enterprise Ireland and IMR channels.

Italian rocket maker Avio has postponed the first Vega C launch under its own management after a supplier flagged a production issue with a component, days after the rocket was fully integrated in French Guiana. The SMILE mission, a joint ESA-Chinese Academy of Sciences spacecraft, had been due to fly today (April 9). No new date has been set. The flight was to mark Avio's debut as an independent launch operator following its split from Arianespace, approved by ESA member states in 2023.

Next week's Space Symposium in Colorado Springs (13–16 April) will have an Irish presence. Ubotica Technologies is promoting its Live Maritime Intelligence platform at the event - the company's onboard AI system for satellite-based maritime domain awareness. Danny Gleeson of Réaltra Space Systems Engineering also flagged interest in TTTech's space avionics ahead of the show on LinkedIn. Worth watching for any Irish supply chain meetings on the margins.

"We are seeing an exciting shift as Europe’s €10B+ investment in projects like IRIS² begins to synchronise with the rapid pace of private innovation. This creates a massive opportunity to build the internet in space” - John Mackey, Co-founder and CEO of Mbryonics, to Business&Finance.

“We didn’t raise this round on a pitch deck. We raised it on a quarter of a million completed deliveries” - Bobby Healy, CEO and Founder, Manna Air Delivery.

PICTURE: One of the first Earth photos sent back from the crew of Artemis II, who are due to return on April 11.

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

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