Ireland hasn't got any astronauts but it does have a space programme. About 25 companies here do subcontracted work for specialists supplying the European, Russian and US space programmes. And the number is growing rapidly, led by firms involved in telecommunications, one of the most active and commercial segments of the satellite launch market.
"It is a real space programme because we have companies providing components for space flights and scientific experiments on board satellites," says Mr Tony McDonald, Forbairt programme manager for the European Space Agency (ESA) involvement.
Ireland's 20-year involvement flows from our membership of the ESA "club". It costs us a minimum of £2.7 million per year, but the more you invest the greater your potential return in subcontract work, explained Mr McDonald.
Ireland gave the ESA £4.5 million in 1997 according to the Government's Office of Science and Technology (OST) so our discretionary contribution was £1.8 million and we should have expected to see contract work worth this amount.
But Irish contract work last year was worth about £4 million. "We are about the only country that does this. We probably do better than we should." It is based on the "fair return" principle, he says. "The fair return concept means that the large contractors must spin off some contract work to smaller members."
This success does not stop the Department of Finance from occasionally threatening to take us out of the club, as it almost did in 1993 during budgetary cost cutting. The subvention is up for annual review but current thinking within Government is to stay with ESA according to the OST.
In fact the new blood coming into the market follows a change of policy taken after 1993 to target the promising satellite telecommunications software sector. The numbers of Irish companies subcontracting has jumped by almost 40 per cent since 1993, with most new entrants in the telecoms area.
"The real opportunities we feel are with telecommunications software, terminal and ground support systems," says Mr McDonald. Industry estimates suggest that $50 billion (£35.5 billion) worth of satellite hardware will be launched over the next year or two.
Companies such as Motorola are launching communications micro-satellites like guests throwing confetti at a wedding. Its Irridium system, to be operational this year, has 64 satellites. Its competitor Global Star has 48 and the ambitious Teledesic system, backed by Microsoft's Bill Gates, includes 288 satellites.
Mind you, the contracts won't come unless a country has the specialist skills to participate in a very demanding industrial and software area. Rocket components are made of exotic and very tough alloys, milled to tolerances down to millionths of a metre. Software must also be absolutely reliable, combined with electronics that can survive the physical rigours of lift-off.
Mr Ciaran Mulhall, managing director of Irish space contractor, Devtec Ltd, described the specialist nature of the work. "It is not something that people just dive into," he says. "These are high precision mechanical components. If one of our linkages goes, that's it, so tolerance levels are very high."
Devtec, which employs 30 people, was established by Aer Lingus in 1982, and was acquired in 1995 in a joint deal involving New Jersey-based US aerospace manufacturer, Marotta, and company management. It makes specialist components for the Vulcan rocket engine which powers ESA's latest launch vehicle the Ariane 5. "We have developed a space component manufacturing facility here in Santry," he says.
Its ESA work has given it a track record that has opened doors elsewhere. It had contracts with aircraft manufacturer Boeing worth £1 million during 1997 and also works for SEP the French manufacturer, the Italian Space Agency and Shorts in Belfast. "The main restriction to growth is getting the skilled people we need," he adds.
The space race has also been good for specialist software developer, Computer Applied Techniques Ltd, trading out of Malahide, Co Dublin since 1979 as CAPTEC. It employs 18 and produces space validated software which monitors and controls the orientation of spacecraft.
"Our most recent involvement was with the XMM satellite, to be launched in the next few years," says founder, Mr Fred Kennedy. Its ESA work includes participation in the Huygens/Cassini launch, which left in 1997 on a six-year trip to visit Saturn and its moons. It developed software for SOHO, ISO and Hipparcos and does regular work for big contractors, Dornier, Matra Marconi, Fokker, Aerospatiale and Saab.
While business is good, it is a challenging field of endeavour, he warns. "You can't play at it. It requires dedication. There are very high standards for the components, the work procedures and the documentation."
The undoubted doyenne of Ireland's space industry is Prof Susan McKenna-Lawlor of NUI Maynooth. Under her direction, Maynooth and her Dermot Desmondbacked company, Space Technology Ireland Ltd, have been involved in a Who's Who list of satellite launches.
She contributed to SkyLab, Solar Maximum and Gravity Probe B for NASA, the Russian Phobos and Mars 96 missions, ESA's Giotto, SOHO, Cluster and Rosetta satellites and the Japanese Geotail mission. This involvement gives Ireland a real presence on the space science front.
