Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Since Poland joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2012, it has been the main institution coordinating the activities of Polish companies from the space industry within ESA projects.

All of the Center’s substantive activities are related to conducting research on near-Earth space, the bodies of the Solar System, and Earth, using space technologies and satellite techniques.

The unit also includes: the Solar Physics Institute in Wrocław, the Astrogeodynamic Observatory in Borówiec near Poznań, the Space Research Scientific Center in Wałbrzych, and the Plasma Physics Team, Laboratory at the Astronomical Observatory in Piwnice near Toruń.

The CBK PAN has developed over 90 research instruments sent into space, including Solar Orbiter, Chang’E–4, InSight, Herschel, Koronas–Foton, Rosetta, Mars Express, and Cassini–Huygens. The first Polish scientific satellites, “Lem” and “Heweliusz,” were also developed here.

The institution carries out numerous research projects and cooperates with the world’s largest space exploration entities.

It conducts its own experiments as part of NASA and ESA missions, cooperates with the Centre National d’Études Spatiales, NASA’s JPL Center, Princeton University, and many others.