Career Profiles

The Space Industry offers a wide variety of careers and opportunities.  You might be surprised at the variety of opportunities across maths, physics, chemistry, engineering and computing. Below you’ll find a number of career stories of people working in diverse areas of the Space sector.

If you are interested in finding out more about working in Space related career, check out our series of videos featuring people from Ireland working in this area.

Cuán de Barra

PhD Student in UCD and spacecraft operator for EIRSAT-1

Mark Kennedy

Lecturer- University College Cork

Rita Malosti

Research and Development Manager- MBRYONICS Ltd

Daniel Keaney

Astrobiology Researcher/Part-time lecture at MTU

Lee Barry

Operations Manager - Varadis

Kevin O’Neill

Chief Executive Officer - PixQuanta

Eibhlin Laffan Downes

Systems Engineer at Réaltra Space Systems Engineering

Bas Stijnen

PhD candidate at UCD Mechanics and Materials Engineering

Giovanni Franzini

Principal Research Engineer at Collins Aerospace

Maeve Doyle

Flight software & operations scientist - UCD

Aidan Duggan

PhD Student on the use of Artificial Intelligence in Space

Eimear O’Carroll

CTO and Co- Founder Lios

Des Gleeson

CEO at IntSatEx (International Satellite Exchange

Aubrey Dunne

Chief Technology Officer at Ubotica Technologies

Kiera Ward

Sports Scientist, Exercise Physiologist - EduFIT

Patrick Kavanagh

Astrophysicist - Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

Niamh McDermott

Systems Engineer - Réaltra Space Systems Engineering

Lisa McNamee

Medical Officer - Irish Defence Forces

Rosie Cane

Outreach Lead - UKLSL

Bethany Downer

Chief Science Communications Officer - ESA

Giovanna Giardino

Instrument Scientist - European Space Agency

John E Ward

Space Product Manager - Réaltra Space Systems Engineering

Evan Slattery

Business Developer with Aerospace Engineering - SpaceChain

Aoife Murphy

Mechanical BIM Engineer - Jones Engineering Group

Laurence O’Rourke

Space scientist and engineer at ESA

Thomas Ormston

Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager for Sentinel-1 - ESOC

Cillian Murphy

Process Engineer- Pannonia Bio

Peter Griffith

Chief Support Scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Centre

Fátima Pinto

Education Office of the European Space Agency

Maeve Murphy Quinlan

PhD Researcher in Planetary Science

Parshati Patel

Astrophysicist & Science Communicator

Juan Miro

Former Head of Engineering at ESA Satellite Control Centre

Hannah Currivan

Space Systems Engineer - Realtra Space Systems Engineering

Dr. Mariya Lyubenova

Astronomer, European Southern Observatory

Stephen Ennis

Ground Segment Engineer – European Astronaut Center

Dr. Caitriona Jackman

Associate Professor of Space Physics

Tom O’Donoghue

Astrophotographer

Denver Humphry

Radio Frequency Engineer - Arralis

Janice Patterson

Spacecraft System Engineer - European Space Agency

Neil Murray 

Aerothermodynamics and Propulsion Design Engineer - ESA

Greg Johnson

President - the Advancement of Science in Space

Sam Franklin

Earth Observation Specialist at Archangel Imaging

Karen O’Flaherty

Science Communicator at the European Space Agency

Niamh Shaw

Steam Artist, Performer, Science Communicator.

Dr. Norah Pattern

Space Enthusiast and Researcher - IComp

Career Videos

If you are interested in finding out more about working in Space related career, check out our series of videos featuring people from Ireland working in this area.

Space Industry

A growing number of Irish companies are developing products and services that will support the European Space programme and that can also be made available on the global market.

Ireland’s membership of the European Space Agency (ESA) has allowed Irish Industry to develop highly advanced technologies with extremely high levels of performance and reliability required for space systems. There are currently about 50 Irish companies, mostly small to medium sized enterprises, working with ESA, and in some cases also with other space agencies such as NASA.

Irish space companies cover a wide range of technology areas including; spacecraft avionic, electronic components, software for spacecraft control and human spaceflight, advanced materials and structures for satellites and launch vehicle, space propulsion, optoelectronic devices for satellites, and biomedical instruments for human spaceflight. Irish companies are also developing technologies and products for the commercial satellite end user market.

Innovative technologies
Irish companies have demonstrated an ability to bring highly innovative technologies to the commercial space market, in many cases developed in collaboration with Irish universities and research institutes. Irish companies have also shown a strong capacity to adapt space technologies for non-space markets such as aerospace, biomedical and telecommunications.

Companies working in the space programme and market employ people with a range of skills including technical, business development, marketing, finance and legal expertise. Given the highly technical nature of space work, there is a strong demand for technical expertise in science, mathematics and engineering.

The range of technology disciplines required can be quite wide, deepening on each companies specific area of activity and can include mechanical, mechatronic, electrical, biomedical, communications and software engineering, as well as basic science such as physics, chemistry, biology and maths.