The government expects more than 1,000 people to be employed in the sector within four years.

THE NUMBER OF people working in space-technology companies across Ireland could double over the next four years to more than 1,000 with backing from the European Space Agency.

A ‘space business incubator’ for 25 space startups will also be set up in a deal announced during a visit from the agency’s head, Johann-Dietrich Woerner, to Ireland.

The development hub for early stage businesses is part of an agreement between the space agency and the Tyndall National Institute, which will act as the incubator’s host in partnership with Maynooth University and the Athlone Institute of Technology.

Woerner said Irish space companies were “ideally placed to gain a significant share of the global space market and are already expanding rapidly into it”.

“Ireland’s investment in (the agency) has contributed to the development of a highly knowledge-intensive industry sector with a demonstrated direct effect on the participating companies’ ability to generate commercial export sales in the commercial space and non-space market,” he said.

Source: AP/Press Association Images

The government predicts the number of companies in Ireland that are operating in the sector will grow to more than 80 by 2020, by which stage it hopes more than 1,000 people will be working in the industry – roughly double the current figure.

Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor said the state’s investment in the agency would “manifest itself through new companies entering the space sector, scaling of existing companies and the development of a strong cohort of high technology start-ups, leading to increased sales, exports and jobs”.

Annual revenues at the firms are also forecast to nearly double to €135 million over the same period, according to her department’s estimates.

Source: RollingNews.ie/ESA

Big budgets

Irish companies already active in the space sector include surface technology firms Enbio, based in DCU’s innovation campus, and Galway’s Éire Composites.

Several multinationals like rocket technology company Moog also have operations in the country.

The Paris-headquartered European Space Agency, which has an annual budget of about €5 billion, is a major contributor to the International Space Station and is also behind the Mars Express and Rosetta missions.

Ireland is one of its founding members and last year the state contributed around €17 million to the organisation’s budget.