Poland is preparing to send its first military satellite into orbit this month, marking a major step in its effort to build homegrown space-based surveillance amid the ongoing tensions on NATO’s eastern flank.
The radar imaging satellite, developed by Finnish firm ICEYE and Poland’s state-owned defense company PGZ, is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The spacecraft supports a planned constellation under Warsaw’s MikroSAR program, part of a contract worth roughly 860 million Polish zloty ($236.3 million).
The agreement guarantees three satellites with an option for three more, forming the backbone of what Poland hopes will become a fully domestic military reconnaissance network.
ICEYE specified in an update earlier this year that the new satellites will give Poland a sovereign orbital capability with “industry’s highest resolution of 25 centimeters (10 inches),” enabling clear snapshots of activity on Earth’s surface even through clouds or darkness.
“The solution … integrates communication and data transmission systems, security and power systems, and the antenna system,” PGZ Management Board President Adam Leszkiewicz said.
“It enables fast, effective, and, above all, real-time transmission of information to recipients at every level of command in the Polish Armed Forces.”
Warsaw is now waiting for two additional observation satellites ordered from Airbus in 2023.
Those spacecraft, to be deployed as part of a joint constellation with France, are slated to reach orbit by 2027.
