Poland’s Space Industry Is Taking Off: Inside the Rapid Rise of a New European Space Power
Key Facts Historical Overview of Poland’s Space Activities Poland’s engagement with space dates back to the Cold War era. As a Soviet-aligned nation, Poland participated in the Interkosmos program, which involved Eastern Bloc scientists in Soviet-led space missions en.wikipedia.org. During this time, Polish researchers built instruments for international missions – over the decades, 80+ Polish-made instruments have flown on various Soviet, ESA, and NASA spacecraft fac.org.uk. The pinnacle of this early period was in 1978, when Mirosław Hermaszewski became the first (and to date, only) Pole to travel to space, spending 8 days aboard the Soviet Salyut 6 station as