EIRSAT-1 was designed, built, and tested by students from University College Dublin (UCD) participating in ESA Academy’s Fly Your Satellite! programme, a hands-on initiative supporting university student teams to develop their own satellites according to professional standards. The launch opportunity itself was provided by ESA.

ESA experts have been on-hand throughout the satellite’s development to offer training and guidance to dozens of UCD students. Their learning journey also included test campaigns at ESA Education’s CubeSat Support Facility in Belgium, and dedicated spacecraft communications sessions both at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Centre and at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt Germany, to learn Ireland’s first spacecraft operations procedures.

“I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate the EIRSAT-1 team for this successful launch and the start of Ireland’s first exciting adventure in orbit,” said Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General. I’d also like to thank UCD for joining forces with ESA towards a common educational objective: boosting the skills of the young generation,” he continued. “It’s only by building capacity that we can make our space ambitions become a reality, for Ireland and for Europe. With our Education programme we are nurturing generations of citizens who are learning to use space technology and space solutions in order to make a difference for our society, our planet and our future.”