About Irish Rocketry

History

2006

Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, model rocketry remained extremely niche in Ireland, with one or two launches but no formal organisation.
Irish regulations meant rocket launches required both Irish Aviation Authority permission and licences to import the rocket motors.

The Irish Rocketry Society, now called Irish Rocketry, was founded in 2006 by a small group of rocketry enthusiasts, Ash McFadden, Colin Fitzsimons and later Eric Stenzel. Their goal was to make model and high-power rocketry an accessible hobby in Ireland.

The early work involved working with various government agencies to establish ways to legally and safely launch rockets in Ireland.

2007

Irish Rocketry affiliated with the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) in 2007, providing a recognised pathway for hobbyists to become certified for high-power rocketry in Ireland. Tripoli also has extensive safety processes and provides launch insurance for the rocketry activities we run.

2008 - 2010

Early launches were public demonstration launches at the Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium in Greencastle, Co. Donegal

Launches made the news in April 2009, when Irish Rocketry member Eric Stenzel launched a 17-foot-tall (1,2 meters) rocket near Tuam, Co. Galway. At that time, this was the largest rocket ever launched on Irish soil, reaching 1000 feet (300 meters). Another rocket, launched by Colin Fitzsimons, reached 4000 feet (1220 meters), which was the highest ever for a rocket launched in Ireland at the time. (Irish Times, 13 Apr 2009)

Launches were also held at a site in Tuam, which, along with the Inishowen site, was to become a regular launch location.

2011 - 2015

World Space Week: In October 2011, the Irish Rocketry Society collaborated with Cork Institute of Technology and Blackrock Castle Observatory to launch a series of rockets on the banks of the River Lee in Cork, in the shadow of Blackrock Castle. (Irish Examiner, 6 Oct, 2011)

Ten small rockets built by students from local schools were launched first, followed by a large rocket, dubbed the “Big Fat Missile”. Launched amid cheers from schoolchildren and onlookers viewing from across the river

During this period, 2-3 launch events ran per year in both Greencastle, Co. Donegal and Tuam, Co. Galway. With a family-oriented format, new members (parents with kids, hobbyists, and students) travelled to both watch and launch rockets. A number of certification launches and altitude attempts we flown over the course of the following years. (Irish Independent, 11 June 2012)

In summer 2012, Ash McFadden set a new Irish altitude record by launching a rocket to 12,500 feet (3810 meters). The launch was run under Tripoli high-power safety codes and with IAA clearance. (Tuam Herald, 5 June 2012)

Throughout the history of Irish Rocketry, outreach has been a core part of our public engagement. An example is a CoderDojo Birr Rocket Launch event in Birr Castle Demesne, where 50 kids enjoyed a blend of coding and rocketry (Silicon Republic, October 2012)

2013 - Present: CanSat

In 2013, Irish Rocketry began supporting the ESERO Ireland/Science Foundation of Ireland CanSat competition. In this national event, TY and Senior Cycle students design, build, and launch a mini-satellite, all within the size of a typical drinks can, i.e CanSat.

The launches have been an exciting part of the competition as can be seen in the coverage on the RTE programme INSIDERS in 2015, see video (YouTube, Research Ireland Discover, 2015)

Since then, Irish rocketry has been building and launching rockets to loft the CanSats for the national finals, with dozens of articles helping to demonstrate rocketry in Ireland.
(The Journal, June 2014), (Connacht Tribune, April 2015), (Irish Tech News, April 2015),(Irish Independent, May 2015) (Irish Tech News, April 2017) (SFI, April 2018), (Leinster Express, April 2023),

2013 - Present: Colleges & Universities

In 2013, the Irish Rocketry Society began collaborating more with university student groups, supporting clubs and societies in rocketry activities, from small model launches to high-power competition rockets.

Early student launches included the University College Cork Physics Society (UCC Physoc); some members went on to be active members of Irish Rocketry and gain certification.

In 2017, the Trinity College Dublin Space Society launched their student-built rocket “ST Danu” against a rocket built by students from UCC.

There has been an increase in university rocketry in recent years, with a growing number of Irish teams competing in international rocketry competitions such as EuRoc and Mach-X. Irish Rocketry provides technical mentorship, safety oversight, and national coordination to help grow this further.

In November 2024, University of Limerick Aeronautical Society High-Powered Rocketry Team (ULAS HiPR) became the first-ever group to represent the Republic of Ireland at the European Rocketry Competition (EuRoC) held in Portugal, launching "Airmedh" to an altitude of 2275 m.
ULAS HiPR had previously competed in the 2024 Mach-24 competition in Scotland, launching "Morrigiu" to 600 m. (ULAS HiPR, 2025)

They have been joined in international competitions by UCC, who launched "Prometheus", their first high-powered rocket, reaching an altitude of 2,259 metres. (UCC Rocketry Soc, 2025)
At the Mach-25 event, at the same event, ULAS HiPR launched "Macha" to 2273 m. Both teams deployed CanSat type payloads as part of these flights.

EirSpace is another student-run organisation working towards international competitions, having sucsessfully launched a number of high-power rockets in 2025. (EirSpace, 2025)

2015

2015 saw the unfortunate loss of our primary launch site, which was due to the construction of the M17/M18 (Gort to Tuam) motorway.

Despite this, we have continued to find ways to support activities for as many people as possible. Current launch activities rely on the generosity of landowners giving us temporary permission to launch on their land; however, this has limited our ability to offer regular launches and to run more open public events.

Irish Rocketry is actively looking for a new launch site, where we can grow amateur rocketry in Ireland again!

As of 2025, Irish Rocketry is working with 14 student groups across Ireland to support an exciting and active community of young enthusiasts, many of whom see careers in the space industry as a real goal.

Irish Rocketry also collaborates with staff at universities as part of Project-Based Learning. Since 2022, we have supported rocketry as part of the Aerospace Engineering programme at South East Technological University (SETU). As part of this, we have delivered talks and practical rocketry workshops on the campus. (SETU, 2022), (SETU, 2023),

2023 - Collaboration with Ulster Rocketry

Ulster Rocketry was established in 2023 to support rocketry in Northern Ireland. Since they were established, there have been strong links forged between the Irish Rocketry and Ulster Rocketry to help grow the hobby across the whole island, with joint launches, events and demonstrations.

We have to thank Ulster Rocketry for helping to provide a launch venue for high-power certifications and university groups while Irish Rocketry seeks a new launch site. As a relatively new organisation, they have worked hard to run demo flights at airshows and a Northern Ireland youth Rocketry Challenge, and it makes rocketry on the island stronger, onwards and upwards.

2017: International Space University

The 30th annual Space Studies Program hosted by the International Space University was held at the Cork Institute of Technology (now MTU) in 2017. It brought together space professionals and academics for a summer program that included public lectures from figures like astronaut Dan Tani and Buzz Aldrin.

Irish Rocketry supported the rocketry competition, where participants from the programme were divided into teams to design, construct and fly a rocket that met a set of technical requirements for altitude, payload, data capture, and design style, see video (YouTube, International Space University, 2017)

2008 - Present: Outreach

One of the core missions of Irish Rocketry is to inspire and engage at public events. From primary & secondary school launch events to public events, and have been supporting other organisations in STEM outreach and rocketry displays since our formation.

Over the years, Irish Rocketry has run launch events at scores of schools and with outreach programmes at universities. Recent examples are working with TU Dublin outreach office, providing model rocketry launches at the historic Dunsink Observatory (2023 & 2025), where schools from around Dublin experienced a range of exciting activities surrounded by underappreciated gems of Irish science history (Twitter, DIAS Dunsink, 2023) (Twitter, TU Dublin, 2023).

The organisation regularly support other non-profit STEM organisations, with a good example being regular support of the Astronomy Ireland Star-B-Q (The Sun, 2022), where a series of small rocket flights "launch" the event, and a stand helps engage the public at an event full of fantastic space-related activities.

Scouting Ireland has also had launches supported at their events. From the end of the year at Larch Hill to the Air Scouter (Facebook, Air Scouter - Scouting Ireland, 2025) events in north Dublin, Irish Rocketry has helped scouts of all ages experience rocketry.