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Irish entrepreneur raises $6.1M to solve space's biggest waste of human talent

Picture this: You're an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, one of perhaps 500 humans who've ever worked in that environment. You've trained for years, cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands per hour to maintain in space, and represent humanity's finest scientific minds.

So what are you doing for 90 minutes of every two-hour experiment? Moving boxes and fetching tools like a cosmic warehouse worker.

This absurd reality is exactly what Tipperary man Jamie Palmer is determined to fix. And international investors are betting $6.1 million that he's onto something.

The story of the Six Million Dollar Tipp man demonstrates how Irish engineering talent translates to global innovation. Born in Tyrone, he grew up outside Clonmel before pursuing his ambitions in Dublin and further afield.

At Trinity College Dublin, Palmer studied mechanical engineering while building race cars with the Formula Student Team and conducting robotics research at Trinity's Innovation Lab. An internship at Dublin's Akara Robotics and involvement with Dogpatch Labs' entrepreneurship programmes gave him the startup foundation that would prove crucial years later.

He went on to study at Columbia University, where Palmer earned his Master's in Robotics and Control while conducting cutting-edge research in the prestigious ROAM lab. It was here, working on dexterous manipulation systems, that the seeds of his space robotics vision were planted.

Palmer co-founded Icarus Robotics in New York with Ethan Barajas with a mission to stop wasting astronaut time in space on manual work. The solution was intelligent, fan-propelled robots equipped with dual arms and jaw grippers that can handle all the heavy lifting.

Palmer's systems are designd to learn and adapt while in orbit, evolving from human expertise rather than simply following predetermined commands. That represents a significant departure from traditional space robotics, which rely on rigid programming.

"We’re not just putting robots in space. We're bringing the robotics revolution to space operations through systems that learn from human expertise," Palmer says.

Astronauts currently spend weeks of valuable time on cargo resupply logistics alone. Icarus Robotics aims to reclaim that "hundred-thousand-dollar-an-hour talent" for what it was meant to do—scientific discovery.

Led by Silicon Valley investors Soma Capital and Xtal, the $6.1 million investment represents growing international confidence in Irish space entrepreneurs. Palmer joins other Irish space companies making a global impact, from InnaLabs' ESA navigation systems to Ireland's broader emergence as a player in space technology.

The Tipp-man has translated his Irish engineering foundation into partnerships with NASA and major commercial space station developers. The company has parabolic flight testing planned for next year, followed by a full year-long demonstration on the International Space Station.

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The ESA Phi-Lab Ireland Open Call 2025 officially closed on September 16, 2025, marking a significant milestone for Ireland's first foray into the European Space Agency's Phi-Lab network. The applications are now being assessed by the Tender Opening Board (TOB) and Tender Evaluation Board (TEB).

The inaugural call generated significant interest from Irish companies, following the Expression of Interest deadline in July. This strong uptake reflects Ireland's growing space sector, which has expanded from around 30 space-active companies in 2010 to 116 today.

The evaluation process typically takes several weeks, with Open Call 2 scheduled to launch in early 2026. The programme offers €200,000 to €400,000 per project for research into space-optimised hardware, advanced materials, and manufacturing technologies. Companies that missed this round should prepare for the early 2026 opportunity.

NASA is getting serious about putting astronauts back on the Moon. After decades of robotic missions and planning, the US space agency is now actively selecting the companies that will build the vehicles to carry humans across the lunar surface. With billions of dollars on the line and concrete mission timelines set, the race to build America's next moon rover has moved from wishful thinking to a new sense of urgency.

This week's news: Lunar Outpost opened its new mission control center and declared "we're ready to drive" - the latest sign that moon rover companies are moving from concept art to actual operations.

NASA is running a $4.6 billion competition to build rovers for astronauts on future moon missions. Three companies are competing to win the contract for NASA's Lunar Terrain Vehicle program, with the winner set to support the Artemis V mission around 2030.

Intuitive Machines - The current frontrunner

Lunar Outpost - With backing from heavyweights.

Venturi Astrolab - The wildcard

Each company has strengths: Intuitive Machines has proven moon-landing experience, Lunar Outpost has powerful industrial partners, and Astrolab has a faster path to testing their technology.

Where Irish firms can slot in: For the growing space industry, especially in Ireland and Europe, this creates opportunities in autonomous systems, thermal protection, rover wheels, power systems, and remote operations technology.

Northrop Grumman's new jumbo cargo spacecraft, Cygnus XL, docked with the ISS on Thursday bringing nearly 5,000 KG of food, fuel and other supplies. The arrival was a day later than planned due to a faulty thruster.

Blue Origin performed its 35th flight of New Shepard, carrying no humans this time, but over 40 scientific payloads.

Russia’s Progress M-32 cargo spacecraft docked with the ISS. 

Coming soon, Neutron. Rocket Lab ramps up their publicity for its upcoming maiden launch of their heavy lift rocket.

Space Norway signed an agreement to launch its THOR 8 sat on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2027.

Isar Aerospace is getting ready for the second launch of its Spectrum rocket. Who can forget their first launch in March.

Sept. 23: NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, a mission to study the boundary of the Sun’s heliosphere, to launch on a SpaceX rocket.

Sept. 19: Final day of World Space Business Week in Paris.

September 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral at 09:20 GMT.

September 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches classified NROL-48 mission from Vandenberg at 17:37 GMT.

September 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches NASA's IMAP solar research mission plus two other spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center at 15:32 GMT.

September 24/25: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg at 01:57 GMT (Sept 25)

September 25: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral at 08:36 GMT.

September 25: ULA Atlas 5 launches 27 Amazon Kuiper broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral at 12:09 GMT.

It's not often in the ebullient world of space tech that you hear a top executive admit even a hint of a setback. But it happened this week at the World Space Business Week summit in Paris when Amazon's satellite internet project hit a reality check.

"It's not exactly where we wanted to be, but we're making progress," said Ricky L. Freeman, president of Amazon Kuiper Government Services.

The candid admission comes as Amazon currently operates just 106 satellites in orbit—far behind Space X's Starlink, which has thousands already providing global service. However, Freeman outlined an aggressive catch-up plan that could see Kuiper become a serious competitor within two years.

Amazon plans three more launches before year-end to nearly double its constellation to 200 satellites. While still modest compared to Starlink, it provides a foundation for more ambitious goals ahead.

By Q1 2026, Kuiper aims for continuous coverage—meaning users stay connected without interruption as satellites orbit overhead. This requires enough satellites positioned so there's always one in view, eliminating the dead zones of older satellite systems.

The timeline then accelerates dramatically: 26 countries by late 2026, expanding to full global coverage across 54 countries by 2027. Full global coverage means internet access anywhere on Earth.

By 2028, Amazon expects to serve up to 100 countries while launching its next-generation constellation of 3,200 additional satellites.

For Irish businesses in renewables and space tech, Kuiper's eventual arrival brings competition in satcoms that in turn brings competitive pricing and improves service for offshore wind monitoring, rural telemetry for solar/agri, and space-sector ground operations.

On Wednesday (September 18), a 130x290 metre asteroid called 2025 FA22 buzzed past Earth at 09:41 Irish time, coming within just over twice the Moon's distance.

While it posed zero danger, it gave planetary defence teams a valuable practice run. The International Asteroid Warning Network is using this close approach to test how well we can track and characterise potentially hazardous space rocks.

ESA's Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre is leading the charge, measuring everything from the asteroid's orbit to its surface composition through October.

They’re treating it as a dress rehearsal for the real thing. If we ever spotted an asteroid heading our way, these are exactly the measurements that would help us figure out how to deflect it.

Most of us were blissfully unaware of the asteroid's flyby as it wasn’t visible to the naked eye, but the data collected will help keep all of us a bit safer.