Prospects for SpaceTech

Nearly 200 people interested in the potential offered by the space sector gathered on last Friday, 8 February, at the 4th Meetup devoted to the space sector. The interest in the event exceeded our expectations.

Let’s reiterate that the first Space 4.0 meeting was held in March 2018 and was addressed to the people interested in the use of satellite data and possibility of observing the Earth offered by the European platform Copernicus. The following conference, held in May, was a forum for exchanging experience by practitioners who are already using such data sources for business and scientific purposes. The following two meetings informed about the SpaceUp BSA acceleration programme intended for start-ups and using Copernicus satellite data for product development in the so-called space downstream.

The 4th Meetup in the series held on Friday was organised around the theme SpaceTech Made in Poland and was meant to broaden the perspective and present the potential of development in the space sector in Poland, also in the areas known as upstream and midstream. The subject was interesting mostly for students of technical courses, the IT, and entrepreneurs connected to the start-up family. Nearly a third of participants in the meeting had already tried their hand in space or related businesses.

The meeting was opened by Jarosław Chojnacki managing the Speeding up Copernicus Innovation for the BSR Environment and Security (BalticSatApps) project. BalticSatApps is conducted in a project consortium composed of 11 partners representing five countries of the Baltic Sea region (Finland, Estonia, Poland, Sweden, and Russia) as part of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2014–2020 programme. Chojnacki presented the SpaceUp accelerator geared for turning attractive technological ideas that make use of satellite data from the European programme Copernicus into efficiently operating business. He also presented the programme for the accelerator composed of mentor care, coaching, and specialist and business workshops connected with the option of easier access to international network of contacts necessary for the development of the concept. He also listed the participants of the accelerator, explaining their field of expertise and scope of work. Later, he discussed the most thought-provoking developments in the global space sector, paying special attention to the Polish themes. The space industry still remains a major niche to be taken up by young companies and start-ups. Easy and free access to satellite data is the quickest path to open a start-up in the space sector.

The first special guest of the meeting was Maciej Misiura, director of the National Space Programme Department at the Polish Space Agency, who presented the draft of the National Space Programme for 2019–21. The programme works on a budget of PLN 248.5 million. Its overarching goal is to have the Polish space sector grab 3% of European space market by 2030. To achieve that, a system of financial, consulting, and educational support tools is being developed for the space sector and institutions operating in its environment. The operations of the National Space Programme for 2019–21 have been divided into eight thematic groups: large projects, support for the downstream sector, innovation, international environment, training and internships, education, promotion, and the remaining projects.

Link to the programme:

The following guest was Witold Witkowicz, the managing director of ICEYE Polska. The Finnish company is a spin off a student satellite project financed by the university, and today aspires to the position of the leader in the field of microsatellites making radar images (SAR) of the surface of the Earth and also in using such images. The SAR technology allows observing the surface of the Earth absolutely irrespective of the weather, and microsatellites cost a small fraction of traditional-sized devices. Another market advantage is the shorter life cycle of a microsatellite, as this allows for faster improvement of the technology. The company is currently developing a branch in Poland and intends to expand its office in Kraków.

Inna Uwarowa, manager of PW-Sat2 project was the last speaker. The PW-Sat2 is the satellite of the Warsaw University of Technology that was launched to the orbit last year. The main mission of the device is to test a deorbit sail, which is an important subject in the context of the growing pollution of space around the Earth. Moreover, the microsatellite is furnished with a number of components made available by commercial companies in return for testing the operation of their elements in space. The history of PW-Sat2 provided plenty practical guidelines answering the question how to start a project connected to the microsatellite industry.

For detailed information on the project, visit:

The closing remarks were entrusted to Piotr Szuster from the Kraków University of Technology (PK), who invited the participants to the April Copernicus Hackathon improving the skills of using satellite-provided data. At the end, participants were invited at the informal part of the meeting to talk to the guests and get to know other people interested in SpaceTech.

More information on the acceleration programme: