Irish space startups can get off the ground with funding

David Gibbons, manager of ESA Space Solutions Centre Ireland; Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O'Connor; and Franco Ongaro, ESA's director of technical and quality management, pictured in the Tyndall National Institute, Cork at th

Michael Cogley

Irish space technology start-ups have been urged to think more "enterprise, less Starship" when applying for new funding made available through Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The ESA Space Solutions Centre Ireland, which was launched yesterday, is led by the Tyndall National Institute in Cork in partnership with Athlone Institute of Technology, Maynooth University, and Irish Maritime and Research Cluster.

The centre is looking to support research to solve space-based challenges.

Funding is available to 25 successful startups that will receive €50,000 along with expert technical assistance. Also on offer will be ten rounds of €40,000 in funding to support technology transfer for established companies.

ESA Ireland manager David Gibbons said applicants don't necessarily need to develop products for space to be successful.

"So much technology that we use every day originally came from space programs.

"People get hung up on the idea of technology that will be used on satellites or space-craft , but this is about applying space technology more broadly to create good products, good companies and more jobs," he said.