Employees from 30 Irish companies will receive training in the next two years on how to provide technology and services to the European Space Agency in a new initiative costing €400,000.

The Space Industry Skillnet, a new training programme funded by the companies involved and state-sponsored body Skillnets, will train more than 300 employees in skills needed to supply the space agency. The programme is aimed at enabling more Irish technology companies to view the space industry as a commercial opportunity.

"The Space Industry Skillnet will have the critical mass and credibility to bring world-class training from the ESA and other providers to Ireland and direct to the companies who need it," said Catherine Lenehan, network manager of the initiative..

By joining forces to train their employees in these new skills, companies taking part in the initiative will increase their buying power, reduce training costs and gain access to training that might otherwise have been too expensive for them to pursue alone, said Alan Nuzum, Skillnets' acting chief executive.

Skillnets, set up seven years ago to aid workplace learning, has a budget of €55 million to spend on industry training programmes until 2010.