Space Decade for Poland

In November 2012, Poland officially became the 20th member state of the European Space Agency. 10 years ago, the domestic space industry, despite the significant successes of scientists and scientific institutes, practically did not exist.

In 2022, the Polish space sector consists of 330 entities, including more than 150 that participate directly in international projects, about 12,000 employees of companies and R&D centers (in 2020 there were more than 300) and contracts worth more than EUR 140 million. A symbolic summary of the first 10 years of activity in the sector is the debut of the first Polish space company, Creotech Instruments S.A., a leading manufacturer of satellite systems and advanced electronics for quantum technologies, on the Main Market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The company has been selected for a project to build the first large-scale quantum computer for the European Union and is also implementing the EagleEye R&D project, based on a proprietary microsatellite platform, which is developing an Earth observation microsatellite that is expected to ascend to Earth orbit in late 2023/2024.

“In 2012, we decided to take a step that would allow us to establish ourselves in the global space industry. Important points in the development of the space industry in Poland were the establishment of the space agency POLSA in 2014, the development 3 years later of the first Polish Space Strategy and the start of work on the National Space Program. After 10 years, we can already confidently say that not only are we chasing the world’s giants, but we have made our own significant contribution to the development of the sector, and cooperation with the largest agencies and companies gives us a significant share in global aerospace supply chains and the opportunity to develop technologies, not only in aerospace, but also in

sectors such as IT or telecom,” said Mirosław Hermaszewski, the only Polish astronaut, currently chairman of the Sector Competence Council for the aerospace industry in Poland. In 2020, the value of the global space economy rose to USD 447 billion, 55% more than 10 years earlier. It is estimated that by 2040 the revenue generated by the space industry could grow to more than USD 1 trillion. About onethird of the value of the global space sector is made up of telecommunications services, and it is the area related to the development of satellite systems that has opened the way to space for companies from Poland. Currently, the domestic space sector is mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as scientific institutes with extensive experience in space exploration and the manufacture of research instruments, which are involved in the exploration of Mars or the Sun, among others. Thanks to participation in and access to ESA infrastructure, Polish entrepreneurs and scientists develop technologies, receive financial support, benefit from the experience and knowledge of other counMirosław Hermaszewski tries, establish contacts with new partners, participate in groundbreaking projects and become important and recognizable partners in European space programs. At the same time, the value of the domestic space market is growing and growing dynamically. In 2014, according to various estimates, it was between PLN 7 billion and PLN 12.5 billion, in 2019 the domestic space market was already estimated at PLN 15 billion. “As part of our contribution to the ESA, we participate in programs of space observation and information, satellite

navigation, telecommunications or construction of scientific instruments. The Polish Industry Incentive Scheme (PLIIS), a program to support Polish entities for 2012-2019, ended in 2019, during which 45% of the Polish contribution to ESA was earmarked for adapting the country’s industry, operators and space industry environment to ESA requirements. Almost half a thousand applications were submitted under the project, and more than two hundred of them were commissioned for implementation. This year, the European Space Agency created a brand-new mechanism for Poland, the socalled Industrial Policy Task Force (IPTF), which will allocate EUR 5.6 million exclusively for contracts for Polish entities between 2022 and 2024. These are also funding that Poland pays through a contribution to the ESA, and which will be redirected to specific activities supporting the further development of the Polish space industry,” said Grzegorz Brona, CEO of Creotech and animator of the Sector Competence Council for the aerospace industry.

At the end of October 2012, a month before the ratification of Poland’s accession agreement to the ESA, the Space Sector Employers’ Association started its activities, which initially had 19 members. It currently has about 70 members, 70% of whom are micro and small enterprises. Member companies employ about 5,000 people, generating a total annual revenue of about PLN 1 billion.

“Further development of the space industry requires the development of human resources. Not only engineers, but also specialists in robotics, automation, or mechatronics, but also scientists, designers, or business representatives and analysts of market and technological trends in various niches of the sector. Training solutions will have to constantly evolve to respond to the current and future needs of the industry,” said Andrzej Banasiak, CEO of Thales Alenia Space in Poland, and member of the Sector Competence Council for the aerospace industry.

The development of the Polish space industry, especially in large ESA projects and scientific missions, will be supported and shaped by entities with foreign capital. To date, the total estimate of the size of projects in which foreign companies have participated as partners from Poland reaches EUR 5 billion.

“Since Poland’s entry into the ESA structures, about 39% of all available funds have been obtained by entities with foreign capital, which represent about 25% of the Polish space sector entities. About 10% of the most active foreign companies in the Polish space sector account for about 85% of the total activity of foreign entities in ESA projects (counting in financial terms, not including expenditures from these companies for subcontractors),” Banasiak added.

The global space sector in the next decades of the 21st century promises to be extremely active. Later in the 20s of this century, man is likely to return to the Moon, and ESS components and metal structures for the Moon I-Hub transfer station are being built right now in Poland. A mission to study the hot intergalactic medium and supermassive black holes is scheduled to launch in 2028 as part of the Athena project. An advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics is being built for the mission, which is expected to be the largest X-ray telescope ever built - one of the structures is also being built in Poland. Panels for the satellite subsystems of the Chime project are also being built in Poland, which, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, will go into orbit and provide unique Earth observation data and allow better monitoring of climate change on the planet.

For years, the biggest excitement has been over plans to populate and planetary missions to Mars. The planetary robot Curiosity, which has been exploring the surface of Mars since 2012 as part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, is equipped with a range of scientific instruments, including a tunable laser spectrometer that includes MCT uncooled infrared detectors designed and manufactured in Poland by VIGO System. And if not Mars then perhaps our future will be decided by Earth’s “digital twin,” which, thanks to Cloud Ferro’s innovative cloud technology services, will allow complex simulations of the functioning of global ecosystems and the development of long-term climate forecasts?

“The Sector Competence Council for the Aerospace Industry actively promotes the interaction of the entire sector, cooperation with colleges, research centers and universities, as well as education and promotion of the space industry. And the results of this work are already visible in every area of the sector’s operations. Today we are much further ahead than 10 years ago, and I am convinced that space is within our reach,” Hermaszewski concluded.