13:23 25 August 2025
Signals and sovereignty
A decade ago, Poland’s presence in the global space sector was marginal. Today, it's growing into a serious player in Europe’s space economy. At the heart of this shift is Agnieszka Łukaszczyk, a seasoned space policy expert whose career spans the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Her perspective offers a candid, unfiltered look at how far Poland has come—and how far it still has to go.
“When I first got into space back in 2006, there was nothing happening in Poland,” Łukaszczyk says. “I had to go to the U.S. to be involved in the field.” At the time, Poland's role in space amounted to isolated research by a handful of scientists. There was no infrastructure, no industry, and no coordinated government effort.
Today, things look very different. Poland is a contributing member of the European Space Agency (ESA), home to the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) with around 200 people, and host to a growing number of upstream and downstream space companies. “We are a major contributor to the European Space Agency,” she notes. “More than that, we have a strong and competent domestic industry. And I would say this is just the beginning—it’s growing rapidly.”
Still, she admits: “Are we very well organized in Poland when it comes to developing and leveraging space? Not yet. But I do believe we have huge potential.”
The growth is most visible in the increasing interest in upstream activities—building and launching satellites. But Łukaszczyk is cautious. “I’m not sure that’s where we should focus,” she says. “Low Earth orbit is already crowded, and putting more hardware up there adds to the congestion.”
She explains that the space environment is more limited than it appears. “We think of space as endless, but in reality, the area we use most is Earth’s orbit, particularly low Earth orbit, which is already heavily packed. If we keep putting more resources and hardware into space, it becomes more redundant and congested, increasing the risk of collisions.”
Instead, she emphasizes the need to fully leverage existing satellite infrastructure. “There are millions of terabytes of data coming down, and it’s simply too much to process or make sense of. The real market and potential lie downstream,” she argues. “The end user doesn’t care about the raw data or that it’s coming from a satellite—they care about getting answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.”
This means transforming raw satellite data into actionable intelligence. “Often, satellite data alone isn’t enough—you need to combine it with other data sources, and probably apply AI to it,” she says. “Doing this takes skill, and the potential is huge.”
While Poland has made real strides, it still suffers from growing pains. Leadership in public space institutions is inconsistent. “The presidency of the Polish Space Agency changes almost every year,” Łukaszczyk notes. “If you don’t have someone pushing this forward, nothing gets done.”
Meanwhile, the commercial sector is advancing rapidly. Companies like CloudFerro are providing vital infrastructure for secure European data storage, including space-related information. ICEYE, a Polish-Finnish radar satellite company, is among the global leaders in its niche. But these successes are happening despite, not because of, coordinated state policy.
“There’s a disconnect between what the commercial sector is capable of and what the government understands,” she says. Despite allocating nearly 5% of GDP to defense, Poland has yet to fully integrate space assets into its security strategy.
In the wake of the war in Ukraine, priorities in space have shifted. “Three years ago, the focus in Europe was on civil applications—disaster response, climate monitoring,” says Łukaszczyk. “Now, it’s defense and secure communications.”
Europe’s Galileo system, once derided as a vanity project competing with GPS, now looks like a wise investment. “If we had to start building it today, it would take another 10-15 years,” she notes. “Even if GPS isn’t working, Galileo is self-sufficient. And it’s more advanced than GPS simply because it’s newer.” Galileo offers Europe a level of independence in navigation systems that’s increasingly vital.
Still, when it comes to satellite communications, Europe lags behind. Starlink has no equivalent on the continent. Projects like IRIS² and commercial efforts like OneWeb are steps in the right direction, but they’re far from operational parity.
As more satellites go up, managing them becomes a priority. “You can’t hide in space,” Łukaszczyk says. Satellites can’t be lost visually, but once communication is lost, they become high-velocity space junk—posing serious collision risks.
“In theory, satellites that are still operational are supposed to be de-orbited at the end of their lifespan—either back to Earth or into a so-called graveyard orbit, which is essentially full of junk but considered safe.”
The registry of satellites is supposed to be maintained by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. “Each UN member state is supposed to register its satellites, even if it’s a private company,” she says. “But in practice, not everyone does. There’s no way to enforce it.”
This is why initiatives like SSA (Space Situational Awareness) and SST (Space Surveillance and Tracking) are essential. “If you’re a satellite operator, you only see your own satellites and your own trajectory. It’s like driving with GPS but no windows—you don’t know what’s around you.”
Private operators, recognizing the risk to their investments, are increasingly leading coordination efforts. “You might think private operators don’t want regulation, but in this case it’s the opposite. They’ve put so much money into these satellites that they want to ensure they can operate safely.”
The Space Data Association is one example where private operators are sharing data to avoid collisions. “Even public entities like ESA, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Defense have joined. But it’s still not enough,” she cautions. “Some countries don’t want to disclose the location of their satellites due to covert operations—but even then, just knowing there’s a big piece of hardware there helps everyone stay safe.”
From space junk to asteroids, the threats aren’t theoretical. Łukaszczyk is adamant: “It only takes one meteor to destroy a city. It could happen tomorrow.” While deflection strategies are being studied, she raises the ethical and geopolitical questions: Who pays to stop a meteor headed for Nairobi? Is the West responsible?
Solar radiation poses another threat. While manufacturers are testing new shielding materials, satellite vulnerability remains high. “We can’t stop solar flares,” she says, “so we need to design smarter.”
This November, the ESA Ministerial Conference will determine budgets through 2032. Poland quadrupled its contribution last cycle, reaching around €400 million. The launch of astronaut Sławosz Uznański is a milestone, but whether that momentum continues is uncertain.
“Are we going to invest in other programs? I think we should” Łukaszczyk asks. Without a long-term strategy, she warns, Poland risks stagnation.
Agnieszka Łukaszczyk's Call to Action
Despite the challenges, Łukaszczyk remains hopeful. She sees enormous potential in Poland’s tech sector and believes the space economy could be a powerful engine of innovation. But it needs vision.
“You don’t need to have a heart for space,” she says. “But you do need to have a brain for it.”
The message is clear: Poland has arrived in the space sector. But staying there—and thriving—requires leadership, investment, and a commitment to turning potential into reality.
