Ireland should establish a national space agency to develop a space policy and coordinate the Irish space sector in line with strategic goals, a new report has recommended.
The study also suggests that Ireland join the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) and enact a national space law.
Failure to do so may hinder Ireland's space sector development in the medium to long term future by impeding or diminishing valuable international cooperation or technology transfer programs, the research says.
The report was produced by 110 of the participants in the International Space University - a nine-week long international conference that has been taking place in Cork and closes officially tonight.
Called a Roadmap for Emerging Space States (ARESS), the document also recommends that Ireland should host a major international space conference, increase investment in space-related STEM education and incentivise space science and engineering programs.
In particular it says aerospace engineering courses, including satellite engineering, should be prioritised.
The group also suggests that strategically focused private industry be encouraged to engage in space-related activities that promote Irish technologies, economic growth, and societal benefits.
It points to potentially significant opportunities for Ireland to become a pioneer in space pharmacology given the significant level of activity in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sector here.
The ARESS also recommends that the market for downstream data analytics-related applications in space be explored, saying the sector provides many opportunities for those involved in making sense of data.
There is a particularly strongly growing market for data based applications such as Earth observation, open source data and scientific research, the authors say.
Tonight's closing ceremony will be attended by the Director-General of the European Space Agency, Johann Woerner.
