This Christmas, The Big Dish, Ireland’s 32-meter radio telescope at the National Space Centre (NSC), celebrates 40 years of tracking Santa’s annual journey around the globe.
Located in the aptly-named Elfordstown in Cork, the dish is a cornerstone of Ireland’s space communications history. Originally built in 1984 by Eircom to send trans-Atlantic calls to North America via satellite, it has also been used to listen for the birth of stars in the cosmos and as a teaching device. However, each Christmas Eve, the illuminated Dish takes on a mission of festive magic, lighting Santa’s way to Ireland as he leaves the North Pole and delivers presents to approximately 2.4 billion children globally.
“Santa might be a traditionalist when it comes to his sleigh and reindeer, but he’s also a savvy adopter of modern technology,” said Bruce Hannah, CEO of The Big Dish Company. “He uses satellite positioning to help keep him on track for his very long night of delivering presents to children all over the world.” These navigation satellites relay data to groundstations in Elfordstown, which can track Santa across 70% of the globe from Ireland’s unique vantage point.
Santa’s annual round-the-world trip will start at around 11 am Irish time. A midnight sweep through Ireland will be one of his last stops before he heads towards chimneys in North and South America. Parents of children who should be in bed can follow Santa’s progress at santatracker.com
ABOUT THE BIG DISH
Opened in 1984, The Big Dish was constructed by Bord Telecom to carry telephone calls between America and Ireland via satellite. With a radius of 32 meters, rotation of 540 degrees, and a weight of 220 tonnes, The Big Dish is one of only seven remaining dishes of its kind in the world.
The Elfordstown Earthstation site was taken over by the National Space Centre in 2010 and The Big Dish was briefly revived as a radio astronomy telescope before a mechanical failure forced it offline. In 2024, it was spun off into its own company with a team now at work to secure a new future as a communications station for upcoming Martian or lunar missions or as a radio telescope for deep space research.
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