Innalabs plays crucial role in the ESA Space launch as part of the planetary defence against incoming asteroids Hera Mission

Innalab’s (an Irish company based in Blanchardstown) have designed and manufactured the ARIETIS-NS gyroscope navigation system for a European Space Agency “HERA” SpaceX launch. The launch is integral to guiding the satellite towards the Didymos asteroid system. ESA’s ‘HERA’ Spacecraft is set to launch on the Monday 7th of October 2024 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at approximately 2.52PM Irish time.

This will mark the second mission to the Didymos asteroid system, with the objective of the ‘HERA’ mission being to monitor the after-effects of altering the trajectory of asteroids through kinetic impact, following on from the successful ‘DART’ mission from NASA, which launched in 2021. These missions aim to test and prepare for planetary defence against incoming asteroids by altering their trajectory, should the day come when Earth needs to do so to defend itself.

John O’Leary, CEO, stated, “I am very proud of our young Irish company as through innovation and our people, we are creating Irish Space Heritage. Innalabs has navigation sensors and systems that have accrued over five million hours in space.

Our involvement with almost all major space primes, who now rely on our inertial sensor technology on missions worth billions, is a testament to their trust in our products. I want to thank all concerned as this is a great success story for the Irish space strategy and our improving ECO system to join the global Space boom.”

The launch will be broadcast live on ESA’s website:

Monday. https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Hera_launch_how_to_watch

For more information about ESA and Innalab’s partnership with the HERA project, visit:

https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Ireland_helping_ESA_s_Hera_asteroid_mission_find_its_way.