Watch live: Launch of EIRSAT-1

Built by students at University College Dublin under guidance of ESA’s Education Office, EIRSAT-1 is a 2-unit CubeSat carrying three experiments, including a novel gamma ray detector that will study some of the most luminous explosions in the universe.   

The mission has been in development since the team was accepted to the ESA Academy Fly Your Satellite! programme in 2017. Over the past six years, the students have worked with ESA experts and acquired the professional competences needed to design and build their satellite.  They were accompanied through test campaigns at ESA Education’s CubeSat Support Facility in Belgium and other ESA sites, and were also offered by ESA the opportunity to launch their satellite.  

While the satellite makes its way to the launch pad, the student team is preparing to operate the satellite from Mission Control at University College Dublin.  

Find out more about this unique mission during our live launch coverage. Irish broadcaster Rick O’Shea, with guests from ESA and the EIRSAT-1 team, will take viewers through the mission’s history and major launch milestones including liftoff, separation and acquisition of signal, from outside the EIRSAT-1 Mission Control Room. Níl aon satailít mar do shatailít féin! [There’s no satellite like your own satellite!] 

Learn more about how students have built Ireland’s first satellite.