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.”

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——芬兰航天公司 ICEYE 和波兰国营国防巨头 PGZ 签署了一份意向书，共同开发军用卫星通信系统。

波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克表示，该项目将为该国推出类似星链的系统铺平道路。

“今天启动的进程最终能够也必将实现波兰版的星链，”图斯克9月9日在凯尔采举行的MSPO防务展上表示，他指的是SpaceX的卫星网络。“任何密切关注俄乌战争的人都知道通信的重要性。它至关重要。没有通信，在现代战场上你将无从下手。”

PGZ在一份声明中表示，该计划将于2026年至2030年实施。

ICEYE与PGZ正就波兰武装部队的地球观测系统开展持续合作。这家芬兰公司已通过其MikroSAR项目向波兰军方交付了合成孔径雷达（SAR）卫星。该系统是华沙计划在未来几年内开发的军事空间能力工具包的首个组成部分。俄罗斯持续入侵乌克兰加剧了波兰提升其侦察能力的决心。

PGZ表示：“此次合作将借鉴MikroSAR计划获得的经验，包括开发基于分布式架构的空间段、开发国内地面基础设施以及建立工业能力，使该系统能够在波兰独立开发和维护。”

这家芬兰制造商在一份声明中表示，与这家波兰集团的合作将基于双方的互补角色。

“ICEYE将作为技术合作伙伴，而PGZ将贡献其产业和组织能力，”这家航天公司表示。“ICEYE将负责开发卫星系统架构、设计和制造空间平台以及进行卫星运行。PGZ的职责是组织该项目的国内产业基础，确定能够贡献其生产能力、专业知识和技术基础设施的集团公司。”

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。