Space activities in Poland after 18 April 2026: obligations, risks and opportunities for businesses

Space Activities Act in Poland: what changed on 18 April 2026?

Until April 2026, Polish space sector entities operated in a fragmented regulatory environment. Their activities were based on the general provisions of the Civil Code, the direct application of UN treaties and ad hoc consultations with the Ministry of Development and Technology (MRiT) and POLSA. There was no national permit system, no register of space objects and no statutory rules on liability.

The Space Activities Act introduced:

Which space activities require a permit from the President of POLSA?

Under the Act, the entire operational chain of a space mission is subject to the permit requirement:

1. Launch or attempted launch of a launch vehicle (with or without a payload) or another space object into outer space – a permit for this phase must be obtained before launch.
2. Operation of a space object – activities relating to the use of the object, including its servicing, maintenance, repair and modification, that keep it in working order (in practice, e.g. telecommanding and payload management).
3. Control of a space object – monitoring the object after launch, including tracking its position and technical condition, as well as planning and executing manoeuvres (e.g. station-keeping) and collision avoidance; monitoring alone may therefore constitute a space activity.
4. Removal of a space object – actions of an object in orbit (automatic or operator-assisted) aimed at deorbiting it or moving it outside the protected region of the geostationary orbit.

A single permit may cover selected mission phases or a combination of them, as well as more than one object – e.g. an entire constellation.

Who carries out space activities in Poland and when does Polish jurisdiction apply?

Operator status is held exclusively by an entity that has obtained the relevant permit from the President of POLSA (and by units subordinate to or supervised by the Ministry of National Defence (MON)).

Polish space jurisdiction applies to activities carried out in the territory of the Republic of Poland and from ships and aircraft registered in Poland (including Polish state aircraft), as well as to an operator’s activities carried out from the territory of another state or from an area not subject to the sovereignty of any state (e.g. from the spaceport in French Guiana). Controlling a satellite from a mission control station located in Poland constitutes activity in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Anyone who carries them out without a permit is liable for damage on the same terms as an operator.

Space activity permit in Poland: application procedure

Where to apply and how long the procedure takes

Applications for a permit are addressed to the President of POLSA, while their receipt and formal handling are provided by the Polish Space Agency’s Warsaw Branch Office (Oddział Terenowy Polskiej Agencji Kosmicznej w Warszawie). The standard time limit for considering an application is up to 6 months, with an expedited procedure provided for activities related to a contract with an MON unit.

Opinions of MON, the interior minister, ABW and aviation authorities

The President of POLSA requests opinions from the Minister of National Defence, the minister responsible for internal affairs, the Head of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and – if the mission requires the use of Polish airspace – the minister responsible for transport, who seeks the opinion of the President of the Civil Aviation Authority and the President of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PAŻP).

Permit application requirements

The application must meet specific requirements:

KROK: National Register of Space Objects and registration of space objects

Under Chapter 6 of the Act, the President of POLSA maintains KROK (Krajowy Rejestr Obiektów Kosmicznych – National Register of Space Objects), an ICT-based register.

Deadline for notifying an object to KROK

The operator is required to notify the object to KROK electronically without delay after launch and – separately – after the start of operation, in each case within 7 days at the latest; late notification is subject to a penalty of up to the average salary for each day of delay.

Registration fee

20% of the average salary in Poland for an entry or a change to registered data (MON units are exempt); changes to data – other than current orbital parameters – must be notified without delay.

UN notification

Within 1 month of the date of entry, the President of POLSA forwards the data to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the official notification of the object to the UN Secretary-General under the 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space.

Transitional provisions for objects launched before 18 April 2026

Objects launched before 18 April 2026 and remaining in outer space are to be entered in the register by the President of POLSA within 6 months of the Act’s entry into force (i.e. by 18 October 2026), after the entities that launched them have been called upon to confirm or supplement the data. The owners of such objects do not need to obtain a permit, but they must update the data in the register and pay fees for notifying changes.

Space objects in Poland: operator’s civil liability and compulsory third-party liability insurance

The Polish Act draws a precise distinction between the liability regimes for space damage, while protecting the interests of both the State Treasury and subcontractors.

Liability regimes for damage caused by a space object

Rules on the operator’s third-party liability insurance

• Insurance period: the insurance obligation arises no later than on the day preceding the start of the activities covered by the permit and continues until those activities end; the contract may also be concluded by another entity for the benefit of the operator, and the operator informs POLSA of its conclusion within 30 days together with the copy of the insurance contract.
• Sum insured: set individually in the permit according to the scale of the project, up to a maximum of the PLN equivalent of EUR 60 million per event (at the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Poland (NBP) first published in the year in which the contract is concluded).
• Scope of cover: the policy must cover the civil liability of the State Treasury.
• Exemptions: activities carried out for scientific or educational purposes and activities of units subordinate to or supervised by MON are exempt from the insurance obligation. A private company performing a contract for MON does not benefit from this exemption.

Disputes concerning launch services and payload integration in the space sector

Rocket engine failures, destruction of a payload during separation or launch delays of several months can give rise to disputes of considerable value.

Key evidence to be secured

Jurisdiction and space arbitration

Given the specialised and usually international nature of such disputes, parties to space contracts often choose international commercial arbitration, which makes it possible to appoint arbitrators with specialist technical expertise (e.g. under the special space rules of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague – the PCA Space Rules).

Component suppliers, manufacturers and subcontractors in the Polish space sector

The Polish space sector consists largely of specialised manufacturers of on-board electronics, optical systems, sensors and control software.

Liability of entities cooperating with the operator

Entities cooperating with the operator that have not been named in the permit as a partner are liable for damage caused by a space object only in the event of intentional fault or gross negligence – otherwise, the operator is liable. A partner named in the permit, by contrast, is jointly and severally liable with the operator, so before submitting the application it is advisable to determine which partners will be named in it and to allocate risk accordingly in the contracts.

Compensation clauses and guarantees

Entities with a strong market position may attempt to impose uncapped compensation clauses on Polish suppliers. The Space Activities Act does not prohibit such clauses extending liability in B2B relationships, so it is advisable to negotiate them so that they do not transfer unlimited risk to the supplier.

It is crucial to distinguish precisely between guarantees of proper functioning on Earth (acceptance tests) and guarantees of on-orbit lifetime.

Export control, dual-use items and cybersecurity in the Polish space sector

Dual-use items

Many satellite subassemblies, optoelectronic components, propellants and sensors appear on the lists in EU Regulation 2021/821 or in national legislation on trade in strategic goods. Exporting such an item to a foreign spaceport requires an authorisation – individual, global or general, depending on the item and the country of destination.

Sanctions screening

Rigorous screening of partners, investors, ground station operators and equipment suppliers against EU and international sanctions lists.

Cybersecurity: NIS 2 and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)

Operators of ground-based infrastructure that supports the provision of space-based services belong to the “space” sector under the NIS 2 Directive, implemented in Poland by the amendment to the National Cybersecurity System Act in force since 3 April 2026. Medium-sized and large entities in this sector may qualify as essential or important entities, with obligations relating to risk management and incident reporting. The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), in turn, applies to products with digital elements placed on the EU market.

POLSA as satellite data administrator

Under the amended legislation, POLSA acts as the national satellite data administrator, coordinating the National Satellite Information System (NSIS).

Contracts relating to space activities

The Space Activities Act sets out obligations towards the State and liability towards third parties, but regulates the relationships between the mission participants themselves only to a limited extent. These matters are governed primarily by the provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the contracts concluded on that basis. It is in the contracts between the operator, component manufacturers, payload owners and service providers that the allocation of roles, the scope of performance, the rules of liability for improper performance of obligations and the manner of settling damage should be clearly defined.

Internal risk allocation: indemnities, liability caps and cross-waivers

The internal allocation of risk is particularly important.

Indemnity clauses, limitations of liability and mutual waivers of claims (cross-waivers) serve this purpose. When drafting them, the limits set by the Civil Code must be taken into account. Liability for damage caused intentionally cannot be excluded in advance (Art. 473 § 2 of the Civil Code). In the case of joint and several liability, e.g. of the operator and a partner named in the permit, the rules for settlements between them are determined by the content of the legal relationship between them (Art. 376 of the Civil Code).

A well-prepared contract, consistent with the Act, the permit and the third-party liability insurance policy, is therefore as important for every mission participant as compliance with the administrative requirements themselves.

EU Space Act: legal framework and current status of EU space law

At European Union level, there is not yet a single, comprehensive EU space regulation (EU Space Law / Space Act). An initiative in this area has been proposed and work on it is ongoing.

Current EU legal and technical framework

The current legal and technical framework consists of several elements:

• Regulation (EU) 2021/696, which establishes the EU Space Programme and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), setting out their budget and operating rules.
• ECSS technical standards, which are not formally EU law but are applied – usually in a version adapted to the project (so-called tailoring) – as requirements in European Space Agency (ESA) contracts and in many EU projects.
• Horizontal EU legislation, i.e. general rules that also apply to the space sector, e.g. the GDPR, REACH or rules on exports of dual-use technologies.

Key institutions of the European space sector

• Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) – manages the EU Space Programme on behalf of the European Commission and prepares drafts of new legislation.
• EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), responsible for operating the Galileo and EGNOS systems and for promoting the uptake of Copernicus data and services.
• European Space Agency (ESA), an independent intergovernmental organisation that cooperates closely with the EU and is the main source of technical standards for the European space sector.

Draft EU Space Act (COM(2025) 335): three regulatory pillars

As part of the work on a uniform EU space law, the European Commission has presented a proposal for an EU Space Act (COM(2025) 335), based on three regulatory pillars:

The new rules are intended to cover both EU operators and non-EU operators providing space services in Europe, with requirements proportionate to company size and risk profile.

Legal status of the EU Space Act

Work on the proposal is currently ongoing. The proposal has not yet been adopted (as at October 2026). The Commission has proposed that the new rules apply from 1 January 2030.

Polish space sector: access to the European space market

ECSS standards

Access to the European space market, including participation in the EU Space Programme, in practice depends on meeting specific technical and organisational standards. In Europe, the ECSS (European Cooperation for Space Standardization) standards are of key importance.

In ESA projects and many institutional programmes, compliance with ECSS requirements is usually a contractual condition for entities that wish to supply:

• components,
• software,
• services within the European supply chain.

ECSS standards cover, among other things:

• requirements for the design of electronic and mechanical systems,
• procedures for testing components for resistance to vibration, vacuum and radiation,
• project, documentation and quality management standards (Product Assurance).

ESA contracting procedures

Participation in ESA tenders and projects requires meeting additional formal conditions:

• Registration in the ESA-STAR system (System for Tendering And Registration) – mandatory for entities wishing to bid for ESA contracts; “Light” registration is sufficient to submit a tender, while “Full” registration is required for a contract to be awarded.
• Letter of Support – for certain ESA optional programmes (GSTP, ARTES 4.0, NAVISP, PRODEX, InCubed), it must be obtained from the Polish delegation to ESA; the application (the so-called project sheet, fiszka projektu) is submitted to the Ministry of Development and Technology, and the procedure takes up to 6 weeks.

A Letter of Support means a commitment by Poland to cover certain project costs if the ESA tender is won by a contractor from Poland.

Intellectual property in ESA projects

Intellectual property rights in cooperation with ESA are regulated in detail. These rules derive from documents including:

• “General Clauses and Conditions for ESA Contracts”,
• “Rules on Information, Data and Intellectual Property”.

The model adopted provides for:

• Foreground IP – rights to the results generated during the performance of the contract belong, as a general rule, to the contractor. In contracts fully funded by ESA, the Agency, the States participating in the programme concerned and entities under their jurisdiction receive a royalty-free licence for the Agency’s own requirements. Participating States may also use the results on preferential terms for their own public purposes, and research institutions may use them free of charge for their own research, provided that this does not prejudice the contractor’s legitimate commercial interests. In contracts partly funded by ESA, these rights are narrower.
• Background IP – proprietary rights held before the contract was concluded remain with the contractor. However, the contractor must provide ESA with access to them to the extent necessary to carry out the project specified in the contract – free of charge in contracts fully funded by ESA, and on preferential terms in partly funded contracts.

Space activities in Poland – summary

Since 18 April 2026, the Polish space sector has operated under clear rules. This means new obligations, but also greater predictability for investors, partners and businesses themselves. Every entity involved in a mission should start by asking: does it carry out space activities itself? The answer determines whether a POLSA permit will be needed, which must be obtained before launch. It also determines the obligation to notify the object to KROK and to take out third-party liability insurance.

A well-planned regulatory path reduces the risk of delays, disputes with counterparties and penalties. It also prepares the company for further changes: the EU Space Act and the requirements imposed on ESA contractors.

Planning space activities in Poland?

If you are planning to start space activities in Poland, take part in a mission, supply components, cooperate with an operator or enter the Polish space market, it is worth establishing the right regulatory path before the project begins.

Who prepared this guide

Author of the guide

Maja Sawicka

Attorney trainee (aplikant radcowski), Associate

At Dudkowiak & Putyra she works on corporate services for companies, commercial contracts, due diligence and legal opinions, as well as commercial disputes.

Reviewer of the guide

Maksymilian Cudnik

Attorney (radca prawny), Counsel

Member of the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Poznań; Master of Law, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and LL.M. in International and European Business Law, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. At Dudkowiak & Putyra he is Counsel in the Corporate Department, advising on M&A transactions, commercial law and contract law, including the negotiation of complex commercial agreements. He works in Polish, English and German.

Supervising partner

Michał Puk

Barrister (adwokat), Supervising Partner (Commercial and Regulatory)

Barrister (adwokat) and member of the Bar; Master’s degree from the Faculty of Law at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; awarded by the Bar for exceptional results in the bar exam (2019). At Dudkowiak & Putyra he heads the Corporate & Commercial team and supervises work on commercial contracts, concessions and permits, administrative law and public procurement.