The time has come to build a Polish space mission, because if we combine the competences of our institutes, universities and commercial companies, we can attempt to build a probe that will fly into space. The work is already advanced. Prototype devices are already being tested, Professor Grzegorz Wrochna, president of the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) said in an interview with PAP.PL during the Impact'23 Congress.
Professor Grzegorz Wrochna said in an interview with PAP.PL that work was underway to create a Polish space mission. In his opinion, the Polish space sector can demonstrate extensive experience in the construction of various research instruments that have already flown into space in over 80 missions to various objects in the Solar System. After several months of consultations, the concept of the mission was developed.
'We came to the conclusion that the time had come to build a Polish space mission, because if we combine the competences of our institutes, universities and commercial companies, we can attempt to build a probe that will fly into space. We asked our scientists and our engineers how they would imagine such an exploration mission and received an enthusiastic response. Many proposals came in. Most of them concerned the Moon, because it is our closest neighbour and the interest in the Moon is huge today. Various countries are preparing 50 missions by the end of this decade', Wrochna said.
'We want to launch a probe that would orbit the Moon (...) The work is already advanced', he said.
The probe would scan the surface of the Earth's satellite with a beam of infrared radiation and look for deposits of raw materials that would be used in the future to build bases on the Moon. 'This is a market expected in the future to be worth not millions, but billions of dollars, which is why the Polish industry is interested in it as a business for the future', pointed out Professor Grzegorz Wrochna.
Interview by Patryk Zalasiński
Author: Anna Nartowska (PAP)
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