An agreement on cooperation for the construction of a constellation of microsatellites for the implementation of Earth observation missions for the needs of the security and defense sector was signed on June 24, 2021 at the Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation. The agreement was signed by representatives of CREOTECH INSTRUMENTS S.A. (project leader), PCO S.A. (member of the Polish Armaments Group), Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation, Military University of Technology and Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The signing of the agreement is a natural consequence of the cooperation of these entities in projects that are already being implemented. This concerns in particular the project of developing the Polish structure of the Earth observation microsatellite (the National Center for Research and Development project entitled EagleEye financed under the Fast Path) and the project of building a constellation of nanosatellites (the PIAST project financed by the National Center for Research and Development from funds allocated to research in the area of security and defense). The experience of all signatories of the agreement in the implementation of projects for the European Space Agency is also very important. It allows for the implementation of European standards ECSS (European Cooperation for Space Standardization) which guarantee the necessary quality level of the developed solutions.
The participants of the agreement also assume that the construction of the constellation will enable financing from the sources of the National Reconstruction Program, the provisions of which provide for significant activities related to the use of space.
Taking over the initiative to create a satellite Earth observation system for Poland by a group of experienced and professional entities will guarantee that the project will be carried out with the utmost care and focus on the goal. The creation of the constellation will significantly increase the level of national security and will contribute to a significant expansion of the possibilities of using modern defense means currently obtained or already owned by the Polish Armed Forces (e.g. JASSM-ER missiles or ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 km, which are part of the HIMARS sets).
The signatories of the agreement propose to the Ministry of National Defense to use the HYPERSAT modular platform constellation developed by CREOTECH INSTRUMENTS S.A. to build a constellation in collaboration with the other signatories. The platform can be modified to meet the requirements of the project and will be equipped with a telescope enabling high-resolution images to be obtained. The proposed solution will become part of the Ministry of National Defense activities aimed at acquiring national capabilities in the field of satellite image recognition. At the same time, it will create an opportunity to significantly involve Polish industry and domestic research and development centers in the creation of the constellation.
Entrusting the task of building microsatellites to domestic entities will also contribute to increasing the presence of Polish industry representatives in the supply chains of the international space sector. Both in terms of economy and in terms of state security, this action will be in line with the goals expressed in the Polish Space Strategy, which should be achieved by 2030.
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