National Space Centre speed upgrade for low earth orbit communications
National Space Centre CEO Rory Fitzpatrick speaking remotely with Enet Chief Operating Officer John Gilvarry Enet who installed a 10GB internet connection to the National Space Centre (NSC) in Elfordstown, Cork. Picture: Clare Keogh
The National Space Centre (NSC) in east Cork has successfully upgraded its internet connection speeds as the first step in a major backbone upgrade focused on Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
The €24m Elfordstown location is Europe’s most westerly teleport and Ireland’s only commercial ground station. It provides commercial broadcast services, ground control support for satellites and spacecraft, academic research partnerships, and space industry consulting. The NSC’s co-located Space Campus is also home to more than a dozen Irish space start-ups and EU-headquartered space enterprises.
The facility recently saw a significant upgrade of its telecommunications infrastructure with Limerick firm Enet installing a 10GB internet connection to the NSC. Enet completed the installation as Phase 1 of a plan that will see planned capacity grow to 100GB.
Opened as Elfordstown Earthstation in 1984 at a cost of IR£8m, approximately €25m today, the facility celebrated ten years of operation as the NSC in 2020. The refurbished site has grown from five initial antennas to 33 antennas on-site in 2021. These range from a variety of dishes as small as 3.7M to the site’s flagship 32M dish, known as The Big Dish.
Rory Fitzpatrick, CEO of the National Space Centre, said: “NSC is increasing capacity as the first step in a major backbone upgrade focused on Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Our rural location outside Midleton means we have a hugely advantageous position as Europe’s most westerly teleport."
"It also means that as we grow, we can face infrastructure delivery issues we could not overcome without the commitment of key partners like Enet.”
