Galway Bay fm newsroom - Connemara firm ÉireComposites, has announced an agreement with a Belgian company to design and produce stray light baffles, which will form part of the European Space Agency’s ALTIUS satellite.
The baffles will be the first external part and largest functioning piece of equipment ever to be manufactured in Ireland and launched into space.
ÉireComposites was founded in 1998 and is a design, manufacturing and testing company, involved in lightweight, high performance fibre-reinforced composite materials, with an international blue-chip customer base of over 70 companies in aerospace, renewable energy, marine, Formula 1 racing and general automotive sectors.
The stray light baffles aim to prevent out-of-field stray light from reaching the lenses of the satellite’s optical instruments.
ÉireComposites based in Inverin, will manufacture the three baffles that will be attached to the side of the satellite to assist with the mission objective.
Belgian firm OIP forms part of a consortium that signed the contract with the European Space Agency to build this satellite which is expected to be launched by end of 2023.
The mission will deliver profiles of the stratospheric ozone, as well as profiles of other atmospheric trace gases to provide scientific understanding on how the rise in greenhouse gases affects the atmosphere.
The ALTIUS mission is expected to play a substantial role in how climate change and the impact it has on Earth is studied.
