The satellite, called Mazovia, will be placed 700 kilometers (420 miles) above the North Pole and is expected to remain active for 5-6 years.
Mazovia’s primary task is photographic documentation. The unit will be equipped with a high-definition camera that will recognize objects as small as 2 meters square.
Mazovia will meet the same quality standards as similar units from France and Germany, according to Marek Banaszkiewicz, head of the Space Research Center at the Polish Academy of Sciences, who was quoted in the report.
The Ministry of National Defense will finance the satellite as part of a 10-year strategy for armed forces development. The satellite’s photographic capabilities could also be used in case of a natural disaster.
The time required for the Mazovia project from development to placement in orbit is estimated at four years.
Poland has academic disciplines and research in space technology, remote sensing, spatial geodesy and satellite telecommunications at several technical universities, mainly in Warsaw and Wroclaw.
Poland's most recent work in the space industry was the development of the ARISS antenna on the European Columbus Laboratory module.
Banaszkiewicz said that the experience gained in the Mazovia project will enable Polish engineers to apply for contracts for European space projects such as Galileo or Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), which could be worth 60M euro ($95M), according to the report.
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