Last Friday, August 16, the largest Polish satellite, EagleEye, was launched into orbit. A day later, in This is a huge success for the Polish space industry, but as it turns out, one of many in recent days.
I wondered for a long time what to write on this Monday morning after the launch of the largest Polish satellite and with it our cargo. And suddenly I realized that the last 47 days have been an absolute rally of Polish space thought
– wrote Jędrzej Kowalewski, president of Scanway SA, one of the companies in the consortium that sent the EagleEye satellite into space.
– This period is the culmination of numerous projects and negotiations. We do not realize how many Polish entities have increased their activity in the space sector. This translated into seven weeks when groundbreaking things happened time and again, starting with the first, historic flight of a Polish rocket into space, through sending the largest Polish satellite into orbit, ending with contracts for millions of euros signed by Polish entities with the European Space Agency – said Jędrzej Kowalewski in an interview with Next.Gazeta.pl.
It looks impressive and I think it’s the easiest way to show that the Polish space industry is growing.
– added the president of Scanway.
“Absolute rally of Polish cosmic thought”. What did Poles accomplish in 47 days?
During these 47 days, a total of 10 important events for the Polish space industry took place. Eleven, in fact, because Jędrzej Kowalski – as he himself says – forgot to mention the start of training in Houston by Sławosz Uznański, who will be the second Polish astronaut, after Mirosław Hermaszewski.
Jędrzej Kowalewski begins the list from July 3, when the first documented flight of a Polish rocket crossing the Kármán Line took place. “Success and proving that it is possible to fly into space on highly concentrated H2O2” – comments the president of Scanway at X.
– This shows that Poland can start flying into space in a basically independent way. Although the rocket was launched not from Polish territory, but from the territory of the spaceport in Norway, it shows that we have the ability to carry anything to an altitude of 100 km – comments Kowalewski in an interview with us.
Less than a week later, on July 9, Europe’s newest and largest rocket, Ariane-6, flew into space, carrying a Polish vision system from Scanway. “The system provides important data for engineers and spectacular images of the ship, cargo and the planet,” Kowalewski wrote on X.
July 26, the Polish company Creotech SA is selected to carry out the preliminary design phase of space probes for the future ESA mission “Plasma observatory”. “It aims to gain a deeper understanding of energy flows in plasma around the Earth,” indicates the president of Scanway.
July 29th is the announcement of the stock exchange debut on NewConnect of the company SatRev. In addition, the company announced that day cooperation with Lonestar Data Holdings, specialists in the field of secure data storage in space.
A day later, on July 30, Scanway announces a contract for the design, production and launch support of very large Earth observation instruments for Marble Imaging. “The project is financed by ESA and one of the largest contracts for satellite flight equipment in the history of Polish companies,” comments Kowalewski.
This shows that Polish space entities can not only talk about space, explore it and carry out demonstration missions, but can also implement contracts that are not only at a very high level, but also develop the space industry and technologies that the Polish government has clearly identified as very interesting.
– says Kowalewski.
What’s next? On August 1, PIAP Space, together with scientists at Łukasiewicz – ILOT, announces that it is working on technology for automatic and cheap refueling of satellites in orbit. This is all part of the INORT project, which aims to develop a “road map” for this technology.
As the next important event, Kowalewski mentions a huge, perhaps the largest ever delegation of Polish companies at the SmallSat conference and trade show in Utah, USA. The event took place between August 3 and 8, with two Polish companies having stands, and several others attending without a stand.
On August 14, Thorium Space, a Polish space company, officially announced the successful completion of tests of a flat satellite terminal. “It is an important product of the company and opens it to the possibilities of commercializing terminals in the Ka band,” writes Kowalewski.
In addition, at the turn of July and August, huge amounts of “hyperspectral imaging data from the Intuition-1 satellite began to flow in. The computer for processing data on orbit has been proven to work correctly and the imaging instrument showing Poland and many places around the globe is working perfectly,” we read in the entry by the Scanway president.
All of this culminated in the launch of the EagleEye Satellite into orbit on August 16. – This shows that Poland is capable of producing large satellites and placing large payloads in them, in this case it was a telescope – Jędrzej Kowalewski tells us.
Poland will have its own satellites. This is currently the most important Polish space project
There may be more and more such breakthrough events. The project of building the Polish constellation of Camila satellites will be of particular importance. The tender of the European Space Agency, which approved aid for this program last year, is ongoing. The tender has been announced for several dozen million euros.
– This is currently the biggest cosmic thing that is happening in Poland. This contract is directed to Polish entities, there is a significant percentage that must be spent in Poland on our technical thought (…). Camila will allow us to enter the league of countries that are able to independently monitor events on the surface of the planet, in the areas that interest us – says Jędrzej Kowalewski.
This is the largest tender in the history of the Polish space industry and a record amount of money that will flow into the Polish satellite sector.
– adds our interlocutor.
Such a project will provide us with independence in terms of data reception. It will be used for defense purposes. Kowalewski notes that we can buy satellite images from other entities, but having our own satellites provides greater comfort and more accurate data. In this way, we will bypass the queues of people willing to use external sources of satellite images, which results from the fact that they do not always have the ability to image the entire planet.
In addition, the technology to be used in the Camila satellite technology will allow for very precise imaging at a resolution of 1 meter per 1 pixel, instead of 10 meters per 1 pixel, which is provided by external entities. This will also enable civilian use of satellites, e.g. for inspecting crops, estimating crops, assessing flood areas, urban analysis, and even assessing traffic, which is already possible at these resolutions.
What lies ahead for the Polish space industry? “We need trust”
Sławosz Uznański was selected for a space flight from the reserve list. This was possible thanks to Poland increasing its funding for the European Space Agency several times. State funds for the development of the space industry are therefore crucial, says Jędrzej Kowalewski. His company sent its first satellite into space last year using private money – from investors’ money and money earned on other orders.
– We managed to complete a mission that proved to the whole world that Scanway can make telescopes, cameras and other devices that can collect optical data in space. This has translated into the contracts that we are currently signing – the company’s president told us. He added that the unprecedented increase in ESA funding by Poland will translate into the capabilities of Polish space companies.
What the Polish space sector needs most is public trust and, of course, money.
– added Kowalewski.
There are at least several dozen companies in Poland involved in the space industry, 30 of which are related to the “upstream” branch, which deals with taking various things into space and processing satellite data obtained in this way. But many other companies still need support in building their reputation and, according to the president of Scanway, Poland has invested relatively little in this sector.
The space sector brings huge financial benefits, but at the beginning you have to invest in it. You can’t realize the growth of the sector and large demonstration missions without public money. That’s for sure
– Jędrzej Kowalewski, president of Scanway, summed up the interview with Next.Gazeta.pl.
Source: Gazeta
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
