The agreement which defines the order pertaining to the study has been signed on 11th October 2016 by Lt. Col. Mieczysław Lepionka, Director of the Military Satellite Technology Department at POLSA, and by Maciej Mickiewicz, Blue Dot Solutions Vice-President. The study is expected to be ready by the end of February 2017.
The feasibility study, covering the issue of prospective space technologies is going to be a work, the thematic scope of which is the widest out of the feasibility studies that have been ordered by the Polish Space Agency up until now. The goal of implementation of the aforesaid study is to analyse the trends and present the conclusions and relevant recommendations pertaining to the prospects of development of the space technologies in the following areas: satellite communications and navigation systems, Earth observation, space observation, autonomous systems and space robotics, manned and unmanned space exploration, space propulsion and fuels, satellite launch techniques and space microbiology and biotechnology. The study is also expected to contain an assessment of the potential which remains at disposal of the Polish entities, within the context of options referring to inclusion of those entities in the process of developing new space and satellite technologies. Moreover, the work in question is also anticipated to contain suggestions referring to development of the indispensable legal solutions, in domestic and international settings.
The consortium which is going to deal with preparation of the aforesaid feasibility study is going to involve the following companies: Astri Polska sp. z o.o., Centrum Badań Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk [Polish Academy of Sciences Space Research Centre], Polish Academy of Sciences Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Creotech Instruments S.A., Hertz Systems Ltd. Sp. z o.o. and SpaceForest sp. z o.o.. The consortium is going to be led by the Blue Dot Solutions Sp. z o.o company.
The competition which led to selection of the contractor responsible for carrying out the study has been announced on 7th June 2016. As a response to the request issued by POLSA, sent to 37 entities, 3 offers were submitted in return.
The Polish Space Agency, so far, ordered three initial feasibility studies, referring to the following projects: Astronomical UV Observation Satellite, Polish Space Awareness System architecture, with particular focus placed on tracking and observation of space objects and Satellite based radar imagery system.
Source: Polish Space Agency (POLSA).