Polish Space Agency

During the Soviet era, Poland's space activities were heavily influenced by its relationship with the Soviet Union. Poland participated in the Interkosmos programme, a Soviet initiative to include socialist countries in space research and exploration.^[4] Through the Interkosmos programme, Polish scientists played key roles in developing satellite technology.^[5] One key milestone was the travel of Mirosław Hermaszewski to the Soviet space station Salyut 6 in 1978, being the first and only Polish national to travel to space as of 2024.^[6]

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Poland took steps torwards developing an independent space sector, signing a co-operation agreement with the European Space Agency on the peaceful use of outer space in 1994, which was later expanded on in 2002.^[7] Joining the European Union in 2004 and becoming a co-operating state in 2007 led to Poland's increasing participation in ESA programmes, and in July 2012 the ESA Council agreed to Poland joining the European Space Agency. The country officially became the 20th member of the ESA in November of the same year.^[8]

The first Polish satellite, PW-Sat, was developed by students at the Warsaw University of Technology and launched in February 2012, with the goal of finding low-cost solutions for de-orbiting satellites.^[9] In the following years, the nanosatellites Lem (2013) and Heweliusz (2014) were put into orbit as part of the BRITE programme by the Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences.^[8]

On September 26, 2014, an act was passed by the Sejm establishing the Polish Space Agency (POLSA)^[10] as a branch of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. It started operating with a full team at the end of 2015. In November 2014, professor Marek Banaszkiewicz, who previously served as director of the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences became the first President of the newly formed agency.^[11][12] The vice-president for science became professor Marek Moszyński from the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology of the Gdańsk University of Technology, and the Vice-President for Defense - General Lech Majewski.

POLSA participates in a number of international programmes, such as the ESA's Space Situational Awareness Programme, focused on monitoring space debris and other objects approaching Earth; and the ENTRUSTED project, focused on providing secure satellite communication for and between government agencies within EU member states.^[8][13]

On October 26, 2021, Poland became the 13th nation to join the Artemis Accords, collaborating with NASA to return men to the Moon by 2025 as part of the Artemis program. Grzegorz Wrochna, President of POLSA, stated that although joining the accord does not guarantee a Polish astronaut will go to the Moon, it will ensure greater cooperation with global aerospace efforts, and will ensure that "Polish equipment, Polish instruments will fly to the moon and to other bodies."^[14][15] As part of the Artemis program, Polish firm Vigo Photonics developed the infrared radiation detectors for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, while the PAN Nuclear Physics Institute developed ionizing radiation detectors.^[16]

At the Space Symposium 38 in Colorado Springs on April 19, 2023, U.S. Army general James H. Dickinson signed a treaty with POLSA president Grzegorz Wrochna for Poland to join the Space Situational Awareness Programme.^[17]

On August 9, 2023 POLSA signed a deal with Axiom Space to send a Polish astronaut to the International Space Station aboard Axiom Mission 4, with the likely candidate being Sławosz Uznański, the only Polish member of the European Space Agency's Astronaut Corps. He would be the first Polish astronaut since Mirosław Hermaszewski flew on Soyuz 30.^[18] Shortly after POLSA contributed €200 million to the ESA, an increase from their expected contribution of €132 million as POLSA announced they seek to control a 3% stake in the European space market by 2030.^[19]

On September 30 Wrochna announced that POLSA aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, presumably on Artemis 6. He also announced that Poland will be developing native launch capabilities, as well as native satellites to help the Polish economy.^[20][21]

On March 6, 2018 the POLSA announced that they were planning on investing zł1.43 billion over an eight-year period as part of the "National Space Program" project which would allow POLSA to coordinate with preexisting private space entities in Poland. The founding would have also funded an astronomical observation satellite, a SAR microsatellite, and a number of other R&D projects. Piotr Suszyński, the vice president for defense at POLSA, also stated that the project would promote international cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). POLSA's funding request would not pass.^[22]

On March 18, 2022, POLSA signed a letter of intent with Virgin Orbit in a bid to secure a domestic launch capability. POLSA planned on launching a series of microsatellites, however, the Russian invasion of Ukraine shuttered any plans to use Russian rockets to launch the probes. Wrochna also explained that Poland has no physical location for a traditional vertical launch pad, as any typical space launch will cause debris to fall on populated areas. Virgin's Orbit, and by extension LauncherOne, were defunct before a Polish flight could take place.^[23]

On March 2, 2023, POLSA's vice-president Michal Wiercinski attended Australian International Airshow in order to win not only a launch site for future Polish missions, likely the RAAF Woomera Range Complex, but also to win over subcontractors to design Polish satellites, namely the EagleEye Earth observation spacecraft. This comes as tensions flare between Poland, and NATO against Russia, and the CSTO, as Poland sees the development of Earth observation satellites as an issue of national security.^[24] EagleEye would be launched on the Transporter-11 Falcon 9 mission, being the first Polish Satellite developed by POLSA.^[25]

On October 31 POLSA announced a partnership with the ESA which would see a Polish satellite constellation launched by 2027. The constellation will consist of at least four satellites, three optoelectronic and one radar, and is expected to cost $87 million. The satellites will be designed and manufactured in conjunction with the ESA. The goal of the constellation is in the monitoring and management of land use, agriculture, the environment, infrastructure, water, and emergencies. These will be the first ever Polish governmental satellites, with the constellation using the working name Camilla.^[26]

The PIAST constellation are a group of three identical 6U Earth Observation nanosatellites announced in 2021 and developed by a consortium led by Creotech Instruments guided by the Military University of Technology and operated by POLSA.^[27] The project costs zł70 million, 40% of which was allocated to Creotech for the manufacturing and is expected to have a five-meter resolution.^[28][29] The satellites will be used for targeting for JASSM-ER missiles or ATACMS missiles.^[30] Additonally, they will also be used to coordinate troop movements and management of missions.^[31] The constellation was planned to be launched in the second half of 2024, however, that would be delayed to the first half of 2025.^[27][32]

On November 1, TelePIX, a South Korean space startup announced they will be working with the Polish nanosatellite company SatRevolution, in conjunction with the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT and POLSA, to develop a 6U CubeSat named BlueBon. It is scheduled to launch in June 2024 and will have a 3.8-meter optical camera to collect Earth observation data.^[33]

On July 4, 2016, POLSA announced that they were signing a letter of cooperation with the Chinese National Space Administration to foster developments in science and technology in the two countries and promoting cooperation between Polish and Chinese technology developers. Additionally, the deal outlined Polish experiments being potentially launched on Chinese rockets, and potential Polish experiments to the Tiangong space station.^[34]

• President: Grzegorz Wrochna (from 18 February 2021)
• Vice-President: Col. Marcin Mazur (since 22 November 2021)^[35]
• Vice-President: Michał Wierciński, PhD (since 25 February 2022)^[36]

• KP Labs: a private firm from Gliwice that created the Intuition-1 satellite

• Warsaw plays spy satellite catch-up, Intelligence Online, March 12, 2024 (requires free registration)