Polish firms and research centers can now participate directly in the programs of the European Space Agency. Poland has just signed a Plan for European Cooperating State Charter with ESA, thereby acquiring the status of a European Cooperating State, next to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.
Krysia Kołosowska reports
The Agreement signed by Poland with the European Space Agency opens the gate to the European space industry for Polish companies and scientific institutions. They have already come up with a list of 47 projects, of which ESA selected fifteen, meeting its requirements. Three more are soon to be added to the list. Rafal Baniak, deputy minister of economy, says the ministry will encourage the efforts of Polish businesses active in the space industry area, to expand international contacts.
'The economy ministry wants to help Polish enterprises to become easily recognized partners of the European space industry, creators of new services and usage.'
Chris Cooker, head of the ESA International Relations Department, says that this is not a new cooperation.
'This is a further steps in what has become already a long lasting cooperation between Poland and ESA. We signed the first cooperation agreement in 1994 and we since then have worked together in many areas, such as our Envisat, our observation satellite, the space science and we have had fellows in our technical centers. The very important steps we are taking today is direct involvement, direct participation of Polish research centers and industry in ESA programs. This is a first step which will be followed by many steps towards what in the end we hope will be the membership of Poland of the European Space Agency.'
Professor Zbigniew Klos from the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, points out that Polish scholars have been participating in ESA projects for many years now.
'Polish instruments are flying right now in the direction of the Gerasimenko comet on board the Rosetta space probe. It is a unique, state of the art equipment. If everything goes well, in a few years from now Polish apparatus will be the first to touch the core of the comet. Polish instruments were on the orbit of Mars and Venus. A probe sent to Saturn’s moon Titan, also had Polish detectors on board.'
ESA promotes the use of space technology for the benefit of European citizens. It is responsible for the space part of two important programs of the European Union – Galileo European Satellite Navigation System and GSM.