Polish Space Agency (POLSA)

The Polish Space Agency, known as POLSA, is the Polish government agency for the space sector. Its head office is in Gdansk, Poland. It also has regional offices in Warsaw and Rzeszow. An Act of 26 September 2014 established the agency.

POLSA's task is to support the Polish space industry by bringing business and science together. It helps entrepreneurs get funds from the European Space Agency, called ESA. It also promotes satellite technology that people can use in daily life. Examples include communication, navigation, environmental monitoring and weather forecasting.

International cooperation is one of its main areas. POLSA works with ESA and the European Union, and it supports Polish applicants to space programmes. It has also started efforts to bring Polish industry into projects of EUMETSAT, the European weather satellite organisation. It works with ESA members, the EU and other countries, mainly on space exploration.

A second area is the Polish space sector. POLSA runs competitions for advisory services, which give companies time with experts. Small and medium businesses get help with applications to ESA competitions. The agency wants to raise the innovation and competitiveness of Polish space firms. It encourages high-tech and IT companies to join the space industry.

A third area is data for public bodies. POLSA encourages central and local government to use services built on satellite data. These include Earth observation, navigation and telecommunications. The aim is to make administrative work more efficient.

POLSA also runs research and education work. It teaches secondary school students about space research, space engineering and astronomy. Its activity areas include Earth observation, space security, communications and navigation, research and development, and promotion and education. It also has a student council. Other work includes a map of space infrastructure, a national registry of space objects and information on the space activity law.

Services

• Space industry support
• ESA funding support
• Advisory service competitions
• International space cooperation
• Earth observation
• Space security
• Communications and navigation
• Research and development
• Space education
• National Registry of Space Objects