On Friday, November 28, 2025, following another delay, a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicle lifted off at 7:44 p.m. Polish time from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as part of the Transporter-15 mission. On board was a notably Polish payload: an ICEYE radar satellite for the Polish Armed Forces, three PIAST nanosatellites, and a PW-6U cubesat.
Photos: SpaceX
The Falcon 9 mission was delayed by several days due to technical issues, but it ultimately launched successfully within a 57-minute launch window. The payload consisted of 140 satellites (including those from Exolaunch, D-Orbit, SEOPS, and Impulse Space), mainly microsatellites and nanosatellites intended for deployment into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).
Importantly, the payload included Polish satellites.
The Polish-Finnish company ICEYE launched a single SAR radar satellite, the first of three ordered by the Ministry of National Defense under the Satellite Earth Observation System SAR, codenamed MikroSAR (with an option for three additional satellites). The contract was signed on May 14 of this year and is valued at approximately 860 million PLN gross. ICEYE’s partner is Military Communications Works No. 1 (part of the Polish Armaments Group), responsible for the ground segment, including a trailer-mounted satellite antenna. The launch of the remaining MikroSAR satellites is planned for 2026 (within 12 months of the contract date).
This will provide the Polish Armed Forces with advanced reconnaissance capabilities based on ICEYE radar satellites. SAR satellites enable continuous monitoring of the Earth’s surface regardless of time of day or weather conditions, distinguishing them from optical satellite instruments. Detailed system specifications remain classified.
According to an ICEYE press release, the satellite has established communications, and routine startup and calibration procedures are underway.
“Poland is joining the group of nations with its own Earth-observation capabilities from space. It is a great honor that the sovereign, operational satellite capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces begin with the launch of an ICEYE satellite into orbit. Although our contract was signed last among the military satellite programs, our satellite is the first to reach orbit, after only a few months. We thank you for your trust and excellent cooperation, we are working on the continued, efficient execution of the contract,” said Rafał Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE.
“We are making history, we are building the sovereign satellite capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces. The first military radar satellite under the MikroSAR program has reached orbit. Situational awareness on the battlefield is absolutely crucial today, thanks to this satellite, we can observe the Earth in all weather conditions, day and night. This is not only an advantage on the battlefield but also real support in crisis situations, such as during floods. This is a matter of Polish national interest, we are joining the elite group of countries with their own eyes in space,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Col. Leszek Paszkowski, Head of the Geospatial Intelligence and Satellite Services Agency (ARGUS), emphasized the strategic importance of yesterday’s launch:
“This is an extraordinary moment in the history of our country. For the first time, Poland is obtaining fully sovereign military satellite-observation capabilities. These systems are not just technology, they are real operational tools under the exclusive control of the Polish Armed Forces. With them, we can monitor areas critical to national security on a global scale and detect threats at a very early stage. This is the foundation of the state’s resilience and of the information advantage of our armed forces.”
As part of the Transporter-15 mission, five new ICEYE satellites reached orbit: the first for the Polish military and four others that will support the company’s commercial constellation and other national missions, including the Greek Axis 1.2 program and BAE Systems’ Azalea constellation.
With this launch included, the company has placed 62 satellites into orbit since 2018 for its own needs and those of its customers; 22 of them in 2025 alone. Another fourth-generation satellite (ICEYE Gen4) also reached orbit – the company announced in September that it had begun commercial operation of the first spacecraft of this type. The newest satellite generation provides SAR imagery of world-leading quality with a resolution of up to 16 cm per pixel. At the same time, the imaging swath has been expanded to 400 km, allowing more data to be collected during a single pass and therefore accelerating monitoring of priority areas.
In addition, three PIAST (Polish ImAging SaTellites) nanosatellites were launched under the SZAFIR program. Based on the HyperSat platform developed by Creotech Instruments, they will conduct real-time optical Earth observations with a resolution of up to 5 meters, with a focus on military applications. These are the S1, S2, and M optical satellites, built by a consortium consisting of the Military University of Technology, Creotech, the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation, Scanway, and PCO from the PGZ Group. The project is funded by the National Center for Research and Development (NCBR).
It is worth noting that Wrocław-based Scanway supplied optical components not only for the PIAST satellites but also for a satellite launched on this mission for the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
The final Polish payload is a commercial 6U cubesat owned by SatRev of Wrocław, the PW-6U, which will perform multispectral Earth imaging and process the collected data.
Liftoff of Transporter-15! pic.twitter.com/LJurU40GNP
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 28, 2025
Od dziś 🇵🇱 jest pierwszym państwem w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej z kompleksowym systemem wojskowego rozpoznania satelitarnego!
Start pierwszego polskiego satelity wojskowego na pokładzie rakiety Falcon 9 w ramach misji SpaceX Transporter-15 stał się faktem 💪
To przełomowy krok… pic.twitter.com/gx3NfXxQNw
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) November 28, 2025
Dostarczamy sprzęt wojskowy w każdej domenie…#transporter15 #MikroSAR #PIAST @WAT_edu@MON_GOV_PLhttps://t.co/4VcXZ5D1OA pic.twitter.com/Tx3QsZI56X
— Agencja Uzbrojenia (@AgencjaUzbr) November 28, 2025
Poleciały! Polskie satelity: wojskowy Mikro SAR i satelity z programu PIAST wyniesione w kosmos przez rakietę Falcon 9. Dla niej to tylko 500 km. Dla Polski – wielki skok w przyszłość! pic.twitter.com/1FzLal0EWD
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) November 28, 2025
All five satellites have established communication following SpaceX’s Transporter-15 launch.
They’ll support ICEYE’s commercial constellation and national missions for Greece, Poland, and BAE Systems’ Azalea program.
Read more: https://t.co/UgrX018dIt
Video: SpaceX pic.twitter.com/mtEOMDBHlP
— ICEYE (@iceye_global) November 29, 2025
🚀 Pierwszy polski satelita wojskowy w kosmosie!
🌌 To wielki krok dla #WojskoPolskie i przemysłu obronnego 🇵🇱. Jesteśmy dumni, że w nim uczestniczymy.
✅ W dostawę Satelitarnego Systemu Obserwacji Ziemi w programie #MikroSAR, jako członek Konsorcjum, zaangażowane jest #WZŁ1. pic.twitter.com/kVHXuE6PD3
— Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa🇵🇱 (@PGZ_pl) November 28, 2025
Polskie satelity w kosmosie. Dziś ze słonecznej Kalifornii 🇺🇸wystartował Falcon 9 – na pokładzie satelita #PIAST oraz pierwszy 🇵🇱 satelita radarowy 🛰️ @iceye_global dla #WojskoPolskie w ramach programu #MikroSAR.@MON_GOV_PL @AgencjaUzbr @Defence24pl @WarNewsPL1 @Polska_Zbrojna… pic.twitter.com/6lIX7t3nte
— Paweł Bejda (@pawelbejda) November 28, 2025
‼️Nasze satelity wojskowe już na orbicie! Teraz czas dla inżynierów na procedury zestrojenia instrumentów. Wszystko idzie zgodnie z planem. Czekamy na pierwsze zobrazowania. Dziękuję @rmodrzewski @iceye_global za świetną współpracę!
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) November 29, 2025
🚀The Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched the #PIAST satellite constellation into orbit.
Polish ImAging SaTellites is a research and development program led by the @WAT_edu, executed in a consortium with @CreotechSa, @CBK_pan, @AviationPoland, @Scanway_SA and PCO S.A. pic.twitter.com/LWDnMxQAGm— Creotech Instruments SA. (@CreotechSa) November 28, 2025
📢Great to be back with good news: telemetry from 🛰️PW6U #satellite received! At 10:30 p.m. CET, in the first attempt, ca. 100 min. after deployed into #space we received telemetry confirming the correct execution of the first procedures after launch. Stay tuned! #transporter15
— SatRev (@satrev_space) November 28, 2025
Mogę potwierdzić – komunikacja nawiązana, wszystkie systemy sprawne! ICEYE X62 (Polska nazwa do wymyślenia), czyli pierwszy polski satelita wojskowy jest już na orbicie i działa. 6 miesięcy od podpisania umowy do wystrzelenia. @donaldtusk @MON_GOV_PL @KosiniakKamysz @CTomczyk pic.twitter.com/BsIiyP17DI
— Rafal Modrzewski (@rmodrzewski) November 29, 2025
See also:
- Poland: ICEYE, together with the Ministry of National Defence, PGZ, and POLSA, opens the exhibition ‘Vigilance from Orbit’
- Creotech Instruments to Build the National Satellite Constellation CAMILA
- Thorium Space and Creotech Instruments Partner for Polish National Telecommunications Satellite
- The Geospatial Intelligence and Satellite Services Agency is commencing operations
