Poland has taken a decisive step into the strategic space race, after a cluster of the nation’s first military-grade satellites reached orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from California.
The lift-off, part of the Transporter-15 rideshare mission, marks Poland’s debut in deploying satellites designed explicitly to strengthen national defence and security. Five Polish-built spacecraft were among the 140 payloads released into orbit.
At the heart of the mission is MikroSAR, a radar-imaging satellite developed by ICEYE, a company with roots in both Poland and Finland. Using synthetic aperture radar, MikroSAR will be able to scan Earth day and night, through cloud and storm, offering crucial intelligence on border movements, naval activity in the Baltic Sea, and key energy infrastructure.
Defence officials say the system will give Poland unprecedented sovereignty over real-time reconnaissance data, a capability of growing importance given Europe’s evolving security landscape.
Alongside MikroSAR is PIAST, a trio of miniature imaging satellites built in cooperation with the Military University of Technology in Warsaw. Compact but equipped with sophisticated optical payloads, the PIAST constellation will form the backbone of a future national network for Earth observation tailored to military needs. Engineers confirmed that, within hours of deployment, all three satellites had successfully established two-way communication with mission control.
The final addition to the Polish cluster is PW6U, a nanosatellite by Wrocław-based SatRev, intended for civilian monitoring applications. From precision agriculture to infrastructure development, SatRev aims to make space-based data more accessible to the Polish industry.
Officials hailed the launch as a technological turning point, transforming Poland from a consumer of foreign reconnaissance intelligence into a contributor to allied space security.
“This is not just a satellite launch. It is the establishment of a sovereign space capability,” one defence expert noted. “Poland is now building eyes in the sky that it will control itself.”
The mission also highlights the rapid growth of Poland’s private space sector from radar and optics innovation to ground-station networks and industrial partnerships beyond Europe.
The newly launched satellites will now undergo weeks of calibration before entering full operational service. Defence analysts say the PIAST constellation and MikroSAR will eventually feed into systems supporting NATO missions, border monitoring, and crisis response.
For Poland, whose defence priorities have sharpened since Russia invaded Ukraine, the timing is clear: space is becoming a domain where resilience and independence matter as much as on land, sea or air.
Photo: X/@intermarium24
Tomasz Modrzejewski
