Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) provides a low-cost alternative to the extensively used indium oxide-based transparent conductors (ITO) for various technological applications, such as photovoltaic devices, touch screen technology, or transparent and flexible electronics. More recently, transparent conductors were also proposed for use in space technology and for plasmonic devices. Irradiation with gold ions provides a mechanism for assessing the performance of GZO in space environment and potentially, for enhancing the plasmonic performances by electron doping. Through combined measurements of broadband optical reflectance (10 meV to 6 eV), resistivity and Hall effect, we investigated the effect of gold ions irradiation on optical and electrical properties of GZO thin films, obtained by ion plating direct-current arc discharge. We studied a significant number of films, deposited at various discharge currents (ID = 100 - 200 A) and oxygen (O2)-gas flow rates (OFR = 0 - 25 sccm), exposed to ion fluences in the range of 1014 -1015 cm-2. Our data shows remarkable resilience of optical and electrical properties of films to irradiation. No major changes in electron concentration, dc-conductivity or mobility were observed, even at the highest irradiation fluence. Transmittance and reflectance in the visible range show slight variations with irradiation, mostly due to surface effects. On one hand, our findings suggest that the GZO materials are suitable for space applications. On the other hand, gold irradiation does not add conduction carriers, hence does not improve the plasmonic parameters of GZO, unlike we previously observed on nitride ceramics. Comparison with ZrN films will be discussed in this context.