UCD scientists have stars in their eyes with f irst ever Irish satellite
IRISH scientists are set to shoot for the stars with their first ever homegrown satellite.
There are currently more than 4,500 satellites orbiting the planet, but a new addition that is being made in Ireland will be blasted above the Earth in 2020.
A team of UCD students are in the throes of designing, testing and developing EIRSAT-1 – a three-year project that will see the country’s first satellite, called CubeSat, launched from the International Space Station.
In RTÉ’s science series 10 Things To Know About – which airs tomorrow at 8.30pm – David Murphy, the lead spacecraft designer in UCD, said there is huge excitement about their pioneering work. ‘Everyone on the team is really, really proud that this is the first Irish satellite,’ he said.
The CubeSat weighs only a tiny fraction of the size of other satellites. ‘Traditionally, a satellite might weigh one tonne which is quite heavy and difficult to get into space,’ Mr Murphy revealed.
Lána Salmon, the ground station lead in UCD, added: ‘EIRSAT-1 has solar panels which keep it powered. It will be up there doing its thing and we need to be monitoring it every single day.’