The initiative, known as SPARK, will involve the construction of a small research satellite by the Łukasiewicz Research Network, which brings together 22 scientific institutes across the country.
The network’s head, Hubert Cichocki, said the nanosatellite could be launched within two years at a cost of almost PLN 15 million (EUR 3.5 million).
SPARK, short for Spacecraft Platform Architecture for Research and Key-enabling missions, will allow Polish scientists to conduct in-orbit experiments and test advanced systems developed domestically.
The agreement inaugurating the programme was signed by Cichocki and Cezary Szczepański, head of the Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation (ILOT), and attended by Science and Higher Education Minister Marcin Kulasek
“This is a chance for the Łukasiewicz Research Network to become a driving force for Poland’s space sector,” Cichocki said, noting that ILOT has satellite integration laboratories and its own ground segment with a data processing centre.
The project is a joint effort by three of the network’s institutes: ILOT, the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, and the Industrial Institute of Automation and Measurements. Funding of PLN 14.6 million will come from the network’s own resources.
SPARK will be a CubeSat 3U—a modular satellite measuring 10 by 10 by 30 centimetres. It will be capable of carrying out diverse scientific missions and testing avionics, power sources, onboard computers and communications.
Szczepański said the mission is designed to give Polish-made systems “flight heritage,” a space industry term for proving they work in orbit.
He added that this is strategically important for national security, technological growth and economic returns.
The satellite’s onboard computer will build on experience from the OBC-K1 system, used in the ILR-33 Amber 2K suborbital rocket, which in 2024 reached an altitude of 101 kilometres, crossing the Kármán line that is broadly seen as the edge of space.
Design and testing will take 30 months, with launch scheduled for the third quarter of 2027.
Kulasek said SPARK sends a message to young Polish scientists and engineers that they can work on cutting-edge space technology without leaving the country.
"This platform will inspire a new generation to believe that space technology is not a distant vision, but a real and accessible field," he said.
Kulasek added that after Poland sent astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski into orbit, SPARK is “further proof that we are entering the elite group of nations aiming higher, literally and figuratively.”
Cichocki said that the programme covers the entire life cycle of a space mission, from concept and design through integration, environmental testing and operational use in orbit.
The Łukasiewicz Research Network, established in 2019, operates in 12 Polish cities, with its work coordinated by the Łukasiewicz Centre.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP