The Polish Space Agency (POLSA; Polish: Polska Agencja Kosmiczna, PAK) is the space agency of Poland, administered by the Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology. It is a member of the European Space Agency. The agency is focused on developing satellite networks and space technologies in Poland.[2] It was established on 26 September 2014,[2] and its headquarters are located in Gdańsk, Poland.[3]
History
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The Agency was established under the Act of September 26, 2014,[4] and started operating with a full team at the end of 2015. The Polish Space Agency, as a government executive agency, participates in the implementation of Poland's strategic goals, taking actions to increase the use of satellite systems and accelerate development of space technologies for the benefit of national administration, science, economy and defence.
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.[5][6] 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.
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."[7][8]
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.[12][13]
Domestic satellites
On March 6, 2018 the POLSA announced that they where 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 coopreation with the European Space Agency (ESA). POLSA's funding request would not pass.[14]
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 extentionLauncherOne, were defunct before a Polish flight could take place.[15]
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 developers of 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.[16]
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 satellites, with the constellation using the working name Camilla.[17]
On November 1, TelePIX, a South Korean space startup announced they will be working with a Polish startup, SatRevolution, to, in conjunction with the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT and POLSA, to develop BlueBon, a 6U CubeSat scheduled to launch in 2024 that will have a 3.8-meter optical camera to collect Earth observation data.[18]
Foreign cooperation
On July 4, 2016, POLSA announced that they where 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.[19]
Management
President: Grzegorz Wrochna (from 18 February 2021)
Vice-President: Col. Marcin Mazur (since 22 November 2021)[20]
Vice-President: Michał Wierciński, PhD (since 25 February 2022)[21]
