Today at the Impact’22 conference in Poznań, a report entitled “Kosmos 2022” published by Startup Poland Foundation had its premiere. The report’s partners are Polish Space Agency (POLSA), Industrial Development Agency (ARP) S.A., ICEYE and EXATEL.
Our contribution to the development of the Polish space industry
For some time now, EXATEL is no longer just a Polish telecommunications operator and provider of professional cybersecurity services. We also place a strong emphasis on research and development. Space has become one of the key directions of the R&D department. We are the creator of a modern satellite teleport and the initiator of the Space Technologies Cluster.
EXATEL’s expert input can be found in the commentary titled “The importance of the Space Sector in Poland – moving towards critical infrastructure” which is part of Chapter Two (“The Space Technologies Sector”). The commentary was prepared by Marek Krawczyk, EXATEL’s Space Program Manager and Teodor Buchner, EXATEL R&D Specialist and Academic Lecturer at the Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology and Member of ISSA Poland.
Polish Space Sector is developing
The future happens right before our eyes. Poles show at every step of their way that they have outstanding specialists in many fields, including in space technologies which are gaining more and more importance. We have great experts who are successful and sought after around the world, and we have cutting-edge technologies that allow us to create solutions that until recently remained in the realm of scientific fiction.
The size and value of the space market is growing constantly. The U.S. market is obviously dominant in this area, but according to a document published in November 2021 by the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research, Telecoms & Energy (ITRE), the European market is second in the world, valued at €53-62 billion. More than 230 thousand professionals are employed in this market.
However, the Polish space market is still small, although due to the lack of a unified definition of the space sector, it is difficult to unambiguously estimate its size. In 2020 the Polish Space Agency estimated the size of the Polish space sector at 331 entities, of which the vast majority are small and medium-sized enterprises and R&D units. Most of the key companies, belong to the Space Sector Employers Union which currently has 75 member companies. Another way to estimate the size of the space sector in Poland is to check the number of national companies registered on the https://doing-business.sso.esa.int/ portal. Registration there is the first and necessary step to start cooperating with the European Space Agency and gives an opportunity to participate in tenders announced by it. There are currently 120 Polish entities on this list.
– Further development of the sector will depend largely on when and in what form the National Space Program, which has been heavily delayed, is enacted. This is an extremely important document which can significantly change the situation of space companies in our country. The key will be the role of the state administration or the army as a customer of these companies, as defined in the program. It is primarily the state that should play the role of first adopter of such technologies. Polish public entities should make greater use of space services, for example in the fields of defence and security, which, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, takes on special importance. At the same time, state orders would become a flywheel for the development of space business in Poland, also in the commercial area. Such a stable buyer-customer would therefore be at a premium for companies in this sector. This would develop the competitiveness of Polish companies and make it easier for them to expand into foreign markets.
The Polish space sector and the whole environment surrounding it have a very important task to make public entities understand why it is worth using domestic space technologies and to show them how to purchase such technologies.
We invite you to download and read the entire report and to listen to the interview conducted by Wojciech Dziewit from Startup Poland of Rafał Magrys Vice-President of EXATEL who talks about the specifics of the space industry. During the conversation, the issues of development of Polish space industry and Space Technologies Cluster (KTK) were raised. The topic of how Treasury Companies can support the space sector was also discussed.
