The Munster companies entering the space race

Last year saw record growth in the number of companies engaging with the European Space Agency. Alan Healy profiles some of the participants

Enterprise Ireland companies shoot for the stars with European Space Agency support in 2020. Pictured L- R: Eimear O’Carroll, Co-founder and CTO of participating tech firm Lios; Tom Kelly, Divisional Manager at Enterprise Ireland; Rhona Togher, CEO of Lios; Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD. Picture: Maxwells

Ten companies and research institutes in the Munster region received more than €2.6m last year for research and development projects connected to the European Space Agency (ESA),

A report from Enterprise Ireland shows the ESA placed contracts with a combined value of €11.5m with 28 Irish companies in 2020, with 13 companies securing first-time contracts.

A further €1.5 million in ESA contracts was placed with 10 Irish universities and research institutes involved in a range of strategic research activities.

In 2020, Irish companies became increasingly active in developing space-based solutions to address a range of global challenges, in particular the response to the Covid-19 crisis and climate change.

• Cork-based medical device company PMD Solutions is working with its partners, including Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, to develop the patient-monitoring system Corona-RS. It will be used by doctors to keep a close eye on patients in the community who are suffering from the effects of Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses.  If patients suffer respiratory failure at home, it is critical that they be admitted to hospital as quickly as possible. By using a remote monitoring system, information on respiratory health can be sent from a bodyworn sensor to the healthcare provider via an intermediate device.

A commercial forest as seen through the ‘eyes’ of a 3D laser scanning system developed by Treemetrics.

• Cork-based company Treemetrics secured an ESA contract to develop a new platform to enable the production of forest certification and carbon verification standards. Consumers globally are demanding products that are sourced from producers and suppliers who work in harmony with nature.  Treemetrics, with the support of ESA, has begun developing a platform to support the easier adoption of forest certification and more transparent auditing of management practices that will use the latest satellite imagery from the Sentinel satellite global constellation. The leading global forest certification standards organisation PEFC International will partner with Treemetrics to ensure that the system meets the needs of its certificate holders internationally

 

• Tipperary-based Woodco Renewable Energy Ltd was awarded a contract by ESA to support smart sanitation in South Africa by combining terrestrial technologies with space-based capabilities in communities where improved sanitation measures are being deployed. The main goal of the Space for Sanitation project is to harness the latest internet of things (IoT) technologies, AI technologies, and space-based technologies to provide an early warning system for likely outbreaks of disease. For example, the system can monitor the impact of illegal dumping of faecal sludge in watercourses, as well as the flow of waste and its interaction with the local environment and local populations.

• The Baltic+ SEAL project, involving University College Cork, has been framed as a laboratory to test advances in altimetry data processing to estimate coastal sea level. The project activities will also demonstrate the use of these new regionalised products by conducting an examination of Baltic Sea regional sea level trend, calculating a new mean sea level map, and producing an experimental high-temporal resolution grid.

Kevin O’Neill, CEO of PixQuanta, Peter Smyth, Commercial Director at Tyndall and Peter Finnegan, Manager, ESA Space Solutions Centre Ireland promote some of the medical, VR and automotive technologies being commercialised under PixQuanta's new ESA contract. Picture: Ger McCarthy

• Cork startup PixQuanta based in Tyndall is supported by the ESA to enable the cutting edge light-sensing technology company to increase the market readiness of their novel 3D imaging solutions. “We are delighted that ESA has awarded PixQuanta this contract to support the development and commercialisation of PixQuanta’s technology. ESA’s rigorous standards of evaluation validate the credibility of the technology to future investors and to the B2B marketplace,” commented Karl McGoldrick, PixQuanta Director and Deep Tech entrepreneur.

Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD, said Irish industry is successfully developing an increasing presence in the international space sector. 

"Ireland’s membership of the ESA is at the root of this and is very much a springboard for innovation and development of advanced technologies." 

"Significant new opportunities are emerging for enterprise to use satellite-derived data to develop high-value services which can support policy-making decisions, enterprise development and address global challenges, namely climate change and the Covid-19 emergency.” 

Tom Kelly, Divisional Manager, Enterprise Ireland, said the scope of Irish involvement in space-related activities has increased substantially in recent years, with over 80 Irish companies and a growing number of research teams actively involved in space-related developments supported by ESA, and by Enterprise Ireland. 

"It is very inspiring to see client companies at the forefront of this research and innovation. In particular, it is encouraging to see Irish companies use their technologies to assist in the fight against Covid-19.” 

Ireland has been a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) since 1975.