Can you hear me now? Ireland hosts European agency summit on space connectivity

Irish Independent

10 hours ago

With the global space economy projected to exceed €1.8 trillion by 2035, there are vast opportunities for businesses in telecoms, tech, advanced materials and more. More than 250 delegates from the optical and quantum communications sectors – around 20pc of them from Ireland – gathered in Dublin at the European Space Agency's 8th ScyLight Conference.
They came from industry, academia, space agencies, governments and other stakeholders across Europe, Canada, Japan, the US and Australia to discuss how to build secure, high-capacity, space-based connectivity.
Just as fibre optics are replacing copper cables on Earth, space communications are transitioning from traditional radio waves to high-capacity laser-based systems – an area where Ireland is building real strength.
The conference offered Irish companies such as mBryonics, Pilot Photonics – recent winner of the Innovation Challenge Prize at the 2025 Paris Space Week – and Eblana Photonics, an international platform to raise their profile and build new partnerships.
Likewise, research-performing organisations such as the Walton Institute (Southeast Technological University), the Tyndall Institute (UCC) and DCU also got to share their work, with speakers from each addressing the conference. One of the organisers was Deirdre Kilbane, who leads IrelandQCI, the Irish arm of EuroQCI, the EU-wide quantum communications infrastructure programme. Quantum technology is used to increase communications security.
Attendees were welcomed by Declan Hughes, the Secretary-General of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and Marina Donohoe, Head of Research, Innovation and Infrastructure at Enterprise Ireland.
IDA clients also attended Scylight, including Viasat, a satellite network operator with offices in Ireland, and Altera, which spun out of Intel earlier this year.
While Ireland might not always be perceived as a space pioneer, 2025 marks 50 years since Ireland became a founding member of the European Space Agency.
Most of the companies engaging with ESA are spinouts from third-level funded research
Numerous Irish businesses are making a significant contribution to the global space industry across areas such as satellite communications, navigation systems and Earth Observation.
Recent growth in the sector in Ireland can be credited at least in part to the 2019 National Space Strategy for Enterprise. Since its launch, the number of Irish companies engaging with ESA has grown to 116 from 25 in 2014.
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Many of these companies, including all three mentioned above, are spinouts from third-level funded research.
Most if not all have also benefited from Enterprise Ireland and Research Ireland (formerly Science Foundation Ireland) funding and support.
Through the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund, for example, we have helped to launch and scale several space-focused projects, including FreeForm Optix, The National Space Subsystems and Payloads Initiative, and CAMEO, which is advancing Ireland's capabilities in Earth Observation.
Ireland's growing space ecosystem also supports broader policy goals – from enhancing digital sovereignty to enabling secure communications and contributing to Europe's technological leadership.
To learn more about Ireland's space industry or to discuss opportunities to pivot into this market, please get in touch with the Irish Delegation to ESA.