Thanks to the LauncherOne technology, Poland will be able to provide satellite launch services also for other countries in the region, in particular from the Three Seas area.

The letter was signed during the visit of the Minister of Economic Development and Technology to the United States. On Wednesday, Piotr Nowak and the President of the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), Professor Grzegorz Wrochna, participated in the talks with the President of Virgin Orbit, Dan Hart and its representatives at the company’s headquarters in Long Beach, California.

We want to strengthen cooperation in the field of space technologies, in which the USA is a world leader, and Poland has significant needs related to increasing its military security

– said the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Piotr Nowak after the ceremony of signing the letter of intent between POLSA and Virgin Orbit.

Today’s event is the next stage in building a sovereign satellite system by Poland. This is particularly important in the current geopolitical situation. The development of new technologies, including navigation, Earth imagery, or telecommunications are necessary to ensure the security of the country and to solve crisis situations

– stressed the Minister of Economic Development and Technology.

Cooperation between POLSA and Virgin Orbit

The signed letter assumes that POLSA (which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology) will carry out a detailed analysis of the LauncherOne technology’s usefulness for the needs of, among others, Polish science and economy, in the context of the potential selection of Virgin Orbit as a partner in future projects of launching satellites from Polish areas into the Earth orbit. This is to become a development stimulus for the Polish industry in the broadly understood area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths).

The President of the Polish Space Agency, Grzegorz Wrochna stressed that the signed letter crowned several months of intense negotiations, conducted in close coordination with the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.

The interest and specific declarations made show that Poland may be an attractive partner for global players, including Virgin Orbit. It is even more important to build the position of our space sector in the increasingly competitive segment of the international space market, i.e. upstream. Thanks to the LauncherOne technology, Poland will be able to provide launch services also for other countries in the region, in particular from the Three Seas area

– added the President of POLSA.

LauncherOne – technology of launching satellites into space

The LauncherOne technology produced by Virgin Orbit is a system consisting of a specially adapted aircraft, the so-called „carrier” (Boeing 747 class jet) and a rocket launched from its deck at an altitude of about 10-11 km, capable of placing a payload of up to 300 kg in the low Earth orbit.

The first successful launch of LauncherOne was carried out on 17 January 2021. Less than 12 months later, during the third successful commercial mission with the use of the above-described system, two of seven launched small satellites were made by the Polish company SatRevolution.