Companies from Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Greece have signed a letter of intent to develop a hybrid satellite constellation for countries in the Three Seas Initiative, a regional cooperation platform linking European Union states between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas.
The agreement was signed during the latest Three Seas Initiative summit in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in late April. The Polish signatories were Creotech Instruments, CloudFerro and Eycore.
Grzegorz Brona, chief executive of Creotech Instruments, told Poland's PAP news agency that the constellation could be created within two to three years. He said it would collect and share satellite data among the companies and countries involved.
"We want to build a European satellite constellation together with the countries of the Three Seas Initiative region," Brona said on Monday.
He added that the list of participating countries remained open. The project, he said, was meant as a regional complement to major space programs run by the EU’s largest countries, including Germany and France.
Brona said the plan was not to build one single satellite system from scratch. Instead, it would combine existing and developing capabilities across the region. A key task would be to agree common standards for exchanging data.
The system could eventually include around 50 satellites from different countries. That would allow frequent Earth imaging using optical, radar and infrared technology.
Satellite systems are considered dual-use technology, meaning they can serve both civilian and military purposes. They are used for communication, navigation and observation.
"Poland is already building several such satellite constellations, partly military and partly civilian," Brona said. "In the near future, Poland will have around a dozen of its own imaging satellites in space, so when we talk about 50 shared satellites, that is not a figure plucked out of thin air. It is a realistic estimate of the potential of the Three Seas countries."
Brona said Polish space technology was now able to compete internationally. He added that Creotech had chosen to develop its own know-how rather than operate as a satellite assembly plant.
He said about 80 percent of the subsystems used in the company’s satellites, including the onboard computer, power system and orbital orientation system, were developed by Polish engineers, built in Piaseczno near Warsaw and tested in Poland.
The remaining 20 percent, he said, came from European suppliers or from friendly countries such as Canada.
Brona added that Creotech had stopped using technology from China and the United States several years ago to avoid possible export restrictions.
He said developing Poland’s own space capabilities was important for national security and sovereignty, especially in a crisis.
“In the event of a major conflict or global geopolitical turmoil, even our allies may decide that the priority for their satellites is something completely different, observing different areas than those the Polish army or Polish authorities would like to observe," Brona said.
"We do not want to stand in line as the 25th petitioner waiting for satellite data. We want to have our own space resource that carries out such observations," he added.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP