Polish prime minister: Poland to develop its own Starlink

WARSAW, Poland — Finnish space company ICEYE and Poland’s state-run defense giant PGZ have signed a letter of intent to jointly develop a military satellite communications system.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the project will pave the way for the launch of a Starlink-like system for the nation.

“The culmination of the process that began today can and will be a Polish Starlink,” Tusk said Sept. 9 at the MSPO defense show in Kielce, referring to SpaceX’s satellite network. “Anyone closely following the Russian-Ukrainian war knows how important communications are. It is absolutely critical. Without communications, you have nothing to look for on the modern battlefield.”

In a statement, PGZ said that the program is to be implemented from 2026 to 2030.

ICEYE has an ongoing cooperation with PGZ on an Earth observation system for the Polish Armed Forces. The Finnish company has delivered synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites to the country’s military under its MikroSAR program. The system is designed as the first component of the military space capabilities toolkit Warsaw plans to develop in the coming years. The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has fueled Poland’s efforts to ramp up its reconnaissance ability.

“The cooperation is to draw on the experience gained through the MikroSAR program and is to include the development of a space segment based on a distributed architecture, the development of domestic ground infrastructure, and the establishment of industrial capabilities enabling the system to be independently developed and maintained in Poland,” PGZ said.

The Finnish manufacturer said in a statement that its collaboration with the Polish group is to be based on the partners’ complementary roles.

“ICEYE will act as the technology partner, while PGZ will contribute its industrial and organizational capabilities,” the space company said. “ICEYE will be responsible for developing the satellite system architecture, designing and manufacturing the space platforms, and conducting satellite operations. PGZ’s role will be to organize the program’s domestic industrial base by identifying the group’s companies that will contribute their production capabilities, expertise and technical infrastructure.”