Poland's largest satellite set for Falcon-9 launch today
On Friday, 16 August, in the evening, the largest Polish satellite, EagleEye, will be launched into low Earth orbit onboard the Falcon-9 rocket from SpaceX. This event can be watched online. The entire project required a significant financial investment.
According to Creotech Instruments SA, the rocket launch with the satellite onboard is scheduled for Friday, 16 August 2024, around 19:19 GMT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California (USA) as part of the Transporter-11 mission. SpaceX, the launch service provider, set the date.
Where to watch the EagleEye launch?
The launch window, opening at around 19:19 GMT, will last for 53 minutes. Creotech announced that "the separation of the Polish satellite is planned for 20:38 GMT."
There are plans for a live broadcast of the event. It will be available on the YouTube channel starting at 18:30 on 16 August.
How much did EagleEye cost?
The satellite was created by an industrial-scientific consortium led by Creotech Instruments SA, with members including Scanway SA and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It is intended to allow exceptional-resolution Earth observations.
EagleEye was developed under the "EagleEye Microsatellite System" project. Creotech indicates on its official website that the initiative aims to create an Earth observation satellite (the main product), raise the microsatellite platform to TRL9 (e.g., enabling the testing of other companies' products in space) and refine a series of subsystems intended for microsatellites.
The project was developed as part of the Operational Programme Intelligent Development 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Its value exceeds £9 million, of which £5.5 million is funding.
It was designed for independent Earth monitoring, offering high-resolution images that will be used in various fields, from agriculture to military activity analysis.
