Prof. Figurski is an expert of the Parliamentary Group on Outer Space | Gdańsk University of Technology

The first Parliamentary meeting of the Outer Space Group in the new term of the Sejm took place on 24 September and was combined with the group's participation in the European Interparliamentary Space Conference.

Professor Mariusz Figurski indicates the most important areas of the Group's activity for the coming years. The first is international cooperation in the field of space technologies, so that Polish entities - both research and business ones, can participate in international advanced space programs more and more often.

The second area of the Group's activity is the integration of the environment operating in the space and satellite technologies sector, so that scientists from various centers and business representatives can work together and work out an optimal strategy for the development of space technologies in the country.

–Business must have support in science - emphasizes Professor Figurski - otherwise there will be no such development that we expect and need. Our far-reaching action is to create a new scientific discipline which will be space and satellite engineering. Future graduates of this field of study will be engineers with multidisciplinary skills because this field combines knowledge and skills in the field of e.g. physics, electronics, mechanics, robotics and chemistry.

Another challenge is to adapt the research and investments carried out currently in Poland to the level of space technology in France, Germany and Spain.

–We have a lot to catch up on - says the scientist - and we can learn how to reach the highest level of Hi-Tech in space technology from our partners in the European Union. We know how others have done it, and we can draw the right conclusions, as, for example, Turkey did when it built a space facility near Ankara using state-of-the-art technology. There is no such center in Poland, and it would enable the integration of the scientific and business community, and would become a meeting place for scientists and practicing engineers.

One of the important activities that the Group should take is also the development of cooperation with the Polish Space Agency. Professor Figurski also points to the need to make both the authorities and the public aware of how the development of space technologies is needed for Poland to be a partner for Western countries.

–Paradoxically, the last six months, i.e. the period of the pandemic, has shown how much satellite technologies have become part of our everyday lives and help, for example, during the lockdown. The interest in space technology has increased significantly during this time - says Professor Figurski - Suddenly, traditional solutions stopped working, they were replaced by remote work, online communication, the demand for satellite imaging increased. The changes caused by the pandemic in the space technology industry gave an impulse to look for new, effective solutions.

The Parliamentary Group on Outer Space consists of: MP Bogusław Wontor, Chairman, MP Paweł Poncyljusz, Vice-chairman, MP Marek Dyduch; MP. Zbigniew Girzyński, MP Krystian Kamiński and MP Andrzej Szejna. The group of experts includes: prof. Iwona Stanisławska PhD, DSc, Director of the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences - chairperson of the expert team; professor Zbigniew Kłos, PhD, DSc, Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, chairman of the Space and Satellite Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences; prof. Marek Sarna PhD, DSc, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center PAS, vice-president of KBKiS PAS; prof. Mariusz Figurski, PhD, DSc, Eng., Gdańsk University of Technology / Institute of Meteorology and Water Management / KBKiS PAS; Leszek Loroch, PhD, DSc, Director of the Space Technologies Center of the Institute of Aviation, vice-chairman of KBKiS PAS, PhD Jakub Ryzenko, Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Crisis Center.