By 2030, there will be an estimated 100,000 satellites in space, sending vast quantities of scientific, geographic and other information back to Earth.

However, this exponential growth in hardware comes at a price: potential airwave congestion, leading to a slowdown in the speed at which information is transmitted.

What’s coming down the tracks to solve this problem is 6G. The technology offers higher frequency and broader bandwidth to satellite users and represents a significant business opportunity for companies capable of tapping into its potential by designing high-performance systems for next-generation space communications.

Right in the thick of it is Dublin-based space tech start-up Celtonn – one of only a handful of companies operating in the complex field of high-frequency millimetre wave technology. This technology is key to building the infrastructure needed to support 6G innovation and future connectivity.

“We specialise in D-band millimetre-wave modules (mmWave) in the form of a series of transmitter and receiver products. These are electronic devices that operate in the frequency range of 30 to 300 GHz, also known as the millimetre-wave spectrum,” says Celtonn co-founder Aoife Kelly.

“The demand for higher-frequency, broader-bandwidth systems is accelerating, and our proprietary manufacturing process enables this shift. One of the key challenges in designing mmWave modules is the need to overcome the high path loss and atmospheric attenuation associated with operating at these frequencies. We have been able to address these challenges and can offer customers millimetre-wave solutions that work.

“The performance of our devices comes down to a continued focus on innovation in gallium nitride (GaN) technology for satellite communications,” Kelly adds.

“GaN enables significantly higher efficiency and power density than traditional gallium arsenide (GaAs) devices, making it better suited to the demands of next-generation satellite systems.

“The space sector is often framed in terms of ambition and scale, but its impact is deeply practical,” Kelly says. “Satellite infrastructure underpins disaster response, climate monitoring, navigation and access to healthcare and education, particularly in remote regions. It is a rapidly growing industry, creating high-value jobs and long-term opportunities. The space economy is expected to be worth $1.8 trillion (€1.5 trillion) by 2035.”

The foundations for Celtonn were laid a long time ago by one of the company’s founders, Dr Mark Kelly, who has spent the last four decades building his expertise in signal processing and millimetre-wave technology. During this time, he has also been involved in a number of start-ups in wireless communication and radio frequency engineering.

“The idea for Celtonn wasn’t born in a lab or a boardroom, but over a coffee,” says Aoife Kelly, who adds that a lot of work went on behind the scenes before the founding team set up the company in 2023.

“Four people who had known each other for more than a decade decided that the timing, both in the market and in their own lives, was finally right to commit fully to a technology they had been developing quietly in the background.”

Mark Kelly’s co-founders are telecommunications industry veteran Marie Bourke; Yulung Tang, who is an expert in high-frequency systems and radio frequency engineering; and Kelly’s daughter, Aoife, who has a background in environmental science and entrepreneurship and is the company’s chief operating officer.

“I studied at Queen’s University Belfast, where an emphasis on enterprise encouraged me to think about building companies rather than following a conventional career path,” she says.

“A semester at Zhejiang University in China, immersed in Chinese business culture, was also formative. It showed me how long-term thinking, manufacturing and scale intersect, and it cemented my interest in entrepreneurship.

“For the first two years we bootstrapped the business with minimal cash flow, and while many of my peers were putting their savings towards houses or weddings, I was investing mine in building a deep-tech manufacturing company from scratch,” she says.

“The conviction was always there, but the early months were unforgiving. Endurance is something our team understands well. We are all competitive sportspeople, and sport teaches discipline, consistency and how to keep moving forward when progress is incremental – skills that translate directly into the start-up environment.”

Investment in the business to date has been in the region of €1 million from a combination of sources, including project work for the European Space Agency. Later this year, Celtonn will open its first official funding round of €1.5 million, and Aoife Kelly says its ideal lead investor will bring both a strong contacts book and experience of deep tech commercialisation.

“Our core product is on track to reach technology readiness Level 8 and be space-qualified next year, and we have recently been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency to develop a medium-power amplifier for Earth observation applications,” she says, adding that the company is currently running a pilot with Airbus.

Celtonn assembles and tests its products at its base in NovaUCD’s hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs. The approximate starting price for a unit is €20,000, and customers would normally buy more than one. Celtonn’s technology is suitable for a wide range of applications in 6G, aerospace, autonomous vehicles, maritime, aviation and civil and space radars.

In addition to making and selling its own suite of products, the company will also seek opportunities to foster more in-depth relationships with original equipment manufacturers seeking a shortcut to the sort of innovation Celtonn can offer. “They put out challenge calls to the marketplace, and we can respond to those,” Aoife Kelly says.

“Basically, they want the innovation, but not necessarily the time or the risk involved in doing it themselves. As a small and agile team, we can provide the solutions they need and get a foot in the door with the big players at the same time.”