ALERT: Airspace to be cleared above village in the Midlands ahead of rocket launch this weekend
The air space above the village will be restricted for approximately ni hours during the planned launch
A planned rocket launch from a tiny village in Laois is set to take place this week.
A temporary restriction on the flying of aircrafts and drones will apply in the vicinity of Emo on Thursday May 2 and Friday May 3 to allow the Irish Aviation Authority to support the launch.
The event - described as "a planned small civilian rocket launch" - is being organised by the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO Ireland), which is an education project co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Science Foundation Ireland.
According to the Irish Aviation Authority, the lateral limits of the Temporary Restricted Area (TRA) are a circle radius of 1NM centred on 53° 06' 33.6996” N, 007° 11' 43.0728” W, while the vertical limits are SFC to 1500 feet AMSL.
The period of the restriction shall be from 9am UTC (Universal Time) to 6pm UTC on May 2 and May 3, or 10am IST (Irish Standard Time) to 7pm IST.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including rockets, are not permitted to operate within the TRA without written permission from the Flight Operations Department of the Irish Aviation Authority and ESERO Ireland.
UAS operating in breach of TRA restrictions may be subject to seizure by An Garda Síochána as evidence for potential prosecution and in the interest of aviation safety.
State aircrafts, aircraft of the Irish Coastguard Service and HEMS Operators employed on an operational mission are exempt from the restriction.