Earth through the eyes of PIAST. New images from the Polish satellite constellation

The PIAST project consortium, led by the Military University of Technology, in collaboration with Creotech Instruments S.A., has published new images captured by the satellites in this constellation. The material includes imagery acquired in both day and night modes. The published images confirm the operational readiness of the Polish PIAST satellite constellation, designed and developed on the basis of domestic know-how and the expertise of the Polish space sector.

PIAST forms part of a programme to develop national Earth observation capabilities and build sovereign satellite systems. Its aim is to create a comprehensive satellite data acquisition system, based on Polish technologies and designed to strengthen the country’s strategic capabilities. It is also an example of effective cooperation between Polish industry and academia.

The published images confirm the full operational capability of the PIAST constellation satellites and the effectiveness of the Earth imaging system under operational conditions. Data acquired in day and night modes demonstrate the correct functioning of the complete processing chain up to the L1A level. The images were taken using telescopes developed by the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Scanway S.A., mounted on HyperSat satellite platforms, designed and manufactured in Poland by Creotech Instruments S.A. The results obtained confirm the repeatability and stability of the imaging process.

The images were taken between February and May 2026, in both day and night modes. The locations included Warsaw, Chernobyl, Madrid, Muscat in Oman, and Akulivik in Canada.

Muscat in Oman was captured by PIAST-M under two different acquisition conditions. The left-hand side shows a night-time scene with a close-up of Al Sahwa Public Park, where individual light sources (street lamps in the park) are clearly visible. The right-hand side, meanwhile, shows a daytime image of the same general area, in which the airport stands out as one of the most distinctive elements of the infrastructure.

The Chernobyl images were acquired using two different telescopes: PIAST-M, supplied by the Centre for Space Research (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and PIAST-S2, supplied by Scanway S.A. Both images show the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant site, allowing the same infrastructure to be compared under different imaging configurations.

The image of Madrid, taken around midday by PIAST-M, shows the stadium with clearly visible structural details and elements of urban infrastructure, demonstrating good spatial resolution in a densely built-up area.

Akulivik, an Inuit settlement in northern Quebec, captured in subpolar conditions, with the local airport clearly visible as a key part of the town’s infrastructure. The scene is interesting from a technical point of view, as snow-covered surfaces reflect a large proportion of light and often have limited natural texture. This can pose a challenge for both image processing and the instrument, particularly in terms of preserving contrast, avoiding saturation and maintaining detail visibility in bright, uniform areas.

This satellite image of Warsaw, taken by the PIAST-S2 satellite, shows the capital in winter, with the Chopin Airport area clearly visible, including the snow-cleared runways and elements of the airport and urban infrastructure.

The entire image processing workflow was carried out using Payload Processors, calibration and validation tools, and the ground segment (Payload Data Ground Segment), developed by the team at Creotech Instruments S.A. The scope of work also included the definition and implementation of the data processing chain and the calibration (up to so-called processing level 1A) and validation processes, carried out by the Creotech team, which enabled the generation of products intended for operational applications. The image resolution was reduced fourfold.

The project is being carried out by the Military University of Technology, acting as the consortium leader, in collaboration with Creotech Instruments S.A., the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation, Scanway S.A. and PCO S.A.

Creotech Instruments S.A. acts as a key industrial partner in the PIAST project, responsible for the construction, delivery and integration of three satellite platforms based on proprietary HyperSat technology, as well as for the integration and launch of the satellites.

The project is co-financed by the National Centre for Research and Development under the SZAFIR programme, initiated by the Ministry of National Defence.