New European Space Agency Phi-Lab Ireland Open Call

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) today opens the ESA Phi-Lab Ireland Open Call 2026, the latest Open Call for Proposals under the six-year European Space Agency (ESA) programme which positions Ireland as Europe’s hub for the development and manufacture of next-generation space-bound hardware.

Phi-Lab Ireland Open Call

As Ireland’s national platform for space technology development, ESA Phi-Lab Ireland funds cutting-edge research in advanced materials and manufacturing, across the entire life-cycle of space-optimised hardware from materials discovery and testing, to the scaled production of components engineered for the unique and challenging environment of space. For Open Call 2026, IMR is joined by a new delivery partner, the South Eastern Applied Materials (SEAM) Research Centre at South East Technological University.

Open Call 2026 follows exceptional demand for the programme’s first Open Call in 2025, which drew strong interest from across the Irish industrial base, and saw leading space companies MBRYONICS and Ubotica Technologies successfully incubated within the Irish Phi-Lab. Building on last year’s momentum, Open Call 2026 again offers ESA Innovation Seed Funding of up to €400,000 for projects of up to 24 months, alongside expert mentorship and training, access to state-of-the-art research infrastructure, and comprehensive networking opportunities.

Commenting on the launch of Open Call 2026, Dr. Ken Horan, Director of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IMR and Head of ESA Phi-Lab Ireland, said: “Ireland already has world-class manufacturing and materials capabilities – what has been missing is a dedicated front door into the space sector. That is exactly what ESA Phi-Lab Ireland provides, and as the national platform for space technology development, it sits at the very centre of our national effort to support companies seeking a role in the global space economy. Open Call 2026 is an open invitation to ambitious Irish companies, whether or not they have ever worked in space before, to build the products and the expertise that will define the next decade of this industry in Europe”.

Dr. Ramesh Raghavendra, Director of the SEAM Centre at SETU, added “We are delighted to be partnering with IMR as part of ESA-Phi Lab Ireland. This partnership provides SEAM the opportunity to expand its research centre offerings to Irish-based companies interested in space sector activities from materials development to characterisation. To achieve space-optimised technology development cycles at speed and at scale, collaboration and innovation is indeed essential, and we look forward to playing our part through this partnership with IMR”.

In Europe, the sector’s defining challenge is industrialisation – moving from bespoke, largely manually manufactured spacecraft, to the high-volume manufacturing that today’s satellite constellations demand. The sector is also held back by specialised low-volume processes, limited materials supply chains, and the major cost of qualifying new materials and methods. These are precisely the problems ESA Phi-Lab Ireland is built to solve. Closing this industrial gap is central to Europe’s ambition to lead – not just compete – in the commercial space era.

Evelyn Kerschbaumer, Commercial Officer at the European Space Agency, said: “The space economy is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and Europe’s future competitiveness depends on a strong base of innovative companies in every Member State. Through ESA Phi-LabNET we are building that base region by region, and Ireland’s focus on space-optimised hardware brings a distinctive strength to the network. We look forward to seeing Irish companies turn Open Call 2026 into real technologies with genuine global reach”.

ESA Phi-Lab Ireland was officially launched in February 2026 at IMR’s Advanced Manufacturing Lab in Mullingar by Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, marking the programme’s formal establishment within Ireland’s fast-growing space ecosystem. The launch underlined strong Government backing for the initiative and for Ireland’s wider ambition to become a recognised hub for advanced manufacturing and materials innovation in the global space sector. Key research areas supported by Open Call 2026 will include Advanced Materials Research, Additive Manufacturing, Structural Analysis and Simulation, and Integration of Smart Materials.

Conor Sheehan, Irish Delegation to ESA, concluded saying: “ESA Phi-Lab Ireland shows what is possible by combining IMR’s leadership in advanced manufacturing with SEAM’s applied materials expertise. The programme gives Irish companies an accelerated, world-class route into one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and by leveraging the Technology Centres and Gateways Network in this way, strengthens Ireland’s contribution to the wider ESA ecosystem”.

Companies interested in applying to ESA Phi-Lab Ireland’s Open Call 2026 can do so from today by visiting www.esaphilab.ie.

About ESA Phi-Lab Ireland

ESA Phi-Lab Ireland enables research into next-generation upstream space-related science and technologies, with clear market alignment and scaling potential. As part of ESA Phi-LabNET – an expanding pan-European network of locally hosted Phi-Labs, each addressing a regionally important thematic area – ESA Phi-Lab Ireland facilitates the connections needed to accelerate the future of space through transformative innovation, and to boost Ireland and Europe’s competitiveness, sovereignty and leadership in the global space economy. ESA Phi-Lab Ireland is a structured “under one roof” centre covering the full lifecycle from materials development and characterisation, to design and large-scale manufacturing. ESA Phi-Lab Ireland is a programme of the European Space Agency delivered by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR). https://www.esaphilab.ie/

About IMR

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) is a leading Research and Technology Organisation providing a portfolio of research, training, and consultancy services to Industry across the following four thematic pillars: Digitisation, Sustainable manufacturing, Design for Manufacturing, and Robotics and Automation. As an Enterprise Ireland IDA Ireland Technology Centre, IMR works with leading global and indigenous brands to demystify and derisk new and emerging technologies, and to deliver high impact collaborative research and services to enable advanced manufacturing for a broad range of clients across Ireland’s manufacturing network. https://imr.ie/

About SEAM

SEAM (South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre) is an Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway based at South East Technological University (SETU) in Waterford. Established in 2009, SEAM is an industry-focused applied research centre providing innovative materials engineering solutions – spanning materials characterisation, metal additive manufacturing, non-destructive 3D X-ray and CT analysis, finite element and computational fluid dynamics modelling, and failure analysis – to companies across the medical device, pharmaceutical, micro-electronics, precision engineering, energy and industrial technology sectors. https://seam.ie/

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