Poland's Largest and Most Advanced Satellite Successfully Enters Orbit
Poland's largest and most technologically advanced satellite to date successfully reached orbit on Friday.
Named EagleEye, this satellite is the first designed and built in Poland that weighs over 50 kg. It will deliver high-resolution satellite images, benefiting various sectors such as agriculture and the military.
"We are thrilled to announce that EagleEye has successfully established communications," Creotech Instruments shared on X after the satellite entered orbit at 510 kilometers, following its launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
Although initial estimates suggested it might take up to 48 hours to establish communications, the satellite made contact in less than an hour.
Creotech also posted the first test image from EagleEye, showing the moment the solar panels were deployed, capturing part of the satellite and a view of Earth.
The satellite was a collaborative effort involving three entities. Creotech developed the satellite platform, Scanway provided the satellite’s telescope, and the Space Research Centre at the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) contributed the telescope's computer and the algorithms that control the satellite.
EagleEye is Poland's most sophisticated satellite to date. "This is a pioneering device – the first Polish satellite with such a large telescope," said Tomasz Barciński, head of the Laboratory of Mechatronics and Satellite Robotics at PAN, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
The satellite will capture images with a resolution of up to one meter per pixel, in both visible and infrared light. These images can be used to detect drought and assess vegetation health, Barciński explained to TVN.
To achieve such high-resolution imagery, the satellite is capable of reaching Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) at an altitude of around 300-350 kilometers. Overcoming the engineering challenges required for this was a significant achievement.
"Information on satellite construction is closely guarded. The military shares very little, and the industry even less... Much of the data is kept secret," Barciński told PAP. "As a result, we had to develop most of the technology ourselves."
In Europe, only eight corporate groups have the capability to build satellites weighing over 50 kg, and worldwide, there are only a few dozen such companies. The primary barrier to entry is the high engineering complexity involved.
Poland's first satellite launch, PW-Sat, in 2012 was unsuccessful, but the country's second satellite, named "Lem" after the renowned Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem, was successfully launched a year later.
In October 2023, Poland signed an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch its first satellite constellation, consisting of at least four satellites, in 2027.