Technology
3 min read
Is Ireland Ready for Space as Financial Infrastructure?
The Currency
January 21, 2026•1 day ago

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Ireland launched its first satellite, EIRSAT-1, in December 2023, followed by Ubotica's CogniSAT-6 in March 2024. CogniSAT-6 features AI for imagery processing and marks the first commercial backing from an Irish company. This signifies space's growing financial infrastructure role, raising questions about Ireland's preparedness for this evolving sector.
On the evening of December 1, 2023, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying a small 2U CubeSat called EIRSAT-1. Designed, built and tested at University College Dublin under the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Fly Your Satellite! and PRODEX programmes, it became Ireland’s first satellite the moment it reached orbit. Less than four months later, in March 2024, Ubotica’s CogniSAT-6 rode another Falcon 9 from Vandenberg as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-10 mission. It was the first satellite to launch with commercial backing from an Irish company, carrying on-board AI capable of processing imagery…
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