National: 'Big moment' - Launch date revealed for Ireland's first ever space satellite

The very first Irish satellite is due to launch into space at the end of this month.

The EIRSAT-1 satellite (Educational Irish Research Satellite 1) was built and developed by students from the UCD School of Physics and the UCD College of Engineering and is part of the ESA (European Space Agency) Academy's "Fly Your Satellite" initiative that supports university students in developing their own satellites.

The satellite, which took six years to develop, is due to travel to the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California where it will be sent into orbit on November 29.

Dr Ronan Wall, manager of the UCD Centre for Space Research, has described the launch as a "big moment".

Speaking to Newstalk, Dr Wall said,

"This departure of the satellite from Irish shores for the last time on the first step of its journey to orbit is a big moment for the team. EIRSAT-1 has had thousands of hours of work poured into it and we are ready to launch and operate the spacecraft for the benefit of science, training, and education in Ireland."

EIRSAT-1 will carry out three experiments in Low Earth Orbit and report the data back to the command centre in UCD.

Explaining the experiments, Dr Wall said, 

"The first one is a gamma ray detector and that can tell you things about gamma ray-bursts.

"The second one is a material science experiment in which we are able to provide thermal control for a spacecraft - make sure that it stays hot when it needs to and cold when it needs to.

"Then finally, we have a control experiment - it is an experiment developed completely in UCD - to be able to point and orientate your spacecraft in a novel way that hasn't been used before."

The EIRSAT-1 is due to launch on November 29.