Polish company to build another satellite Creotech Instruments takes a key role in the SAWA mission contract worth EUR 13.9 million

Creotech Instruments S.A., a Polish satellite manufacturer and space mission integrator listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, has signed a EUR 13.9 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the end-to-end delivery of the SAWA – 2nd Space Weather Nanosat mission. As part of the project, the Company will build a satellite designed to study the Earth’s upper atmosphere and monitor the effects of solar activity on the space environment in low Earth orbit. The satellite will form a key component of ESA’s space weather services. This will be the first mission in Polish history to be delivered to ESA under a “mission-as-a-service” model, with a Polish entity – Creotech Instruments – acting as the prime contractor and integrator for the entire mission. The contract marks the continuation of the project initiated by the Company in 2025.

The agreement covers phases B, C, D and E of the SAWA mission and represents the next stage of the project following the successful completion of the feasibility study, covering phases 0/A, in 2025. As the project leader, Creotech Instruments is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of the mission – from building the satellite on the HyperSat platform and integrating its systems, through mission preparation, to mission operations in accordance with European Space Agency requirements. The contract also includes an option to extend the data transmission service provided to ESA for a further two years following completion of the project, for an additional total fee of approximately EUR 1.9 million.

SAWA – 2nd Space Weather Nanosat will conduct observations for up to three years, supporting the European early warning system for phenomena that may affect the operation of space- and ground-based infrastructure. Developing systems to monitor such threats is one of the European Space Agency’s priorities under its Space Safety Programme.

– For the first time in history, a Polish entity will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of a satellite mission to the European Space Agency under the “mission-as-a-service” model. This is a breakthrough both for Creotech Instruments and for the entire Polish space sector. It confirms that the capabilities we have been developing for years in satellite systems integration and the development of the HyperSat platform have reached a level that enables us to deliver strategic security-related projects. It also represents an important contribution by Poland to the development of Europe’s space weather monitoring system, whose importance is growing as the need to protect critical infrastructure, telecommunications and satellite systems increases – comments Dr Grzegorz Brona, President of the Management Board of Creotech Instruments S.A.

The objective of the SAWA mission is to provide data for monitoring and forecasting space weather from low Earth orbit. This includes phenomena caused by solar activity, such as geomagnetic storms and emissions of high-energy particles, which can disrupt the operation of satellites, navigation systems, power grids and radio communications. The mission is therefore of critical importance to the technological and operational security of numerous sectors.

The project will be implemented using HyperSat, Creotech Instruments’ proprietary satellite platform – an advanced Polish solution designed for observation, scientific and security-related missions. The satellite is scheduled for launch in early 2029.

Creotech Instruments is leading the entire project, acting as prime contractor, mission integrator and supplier of the HyperSat satellite platform. Project partners include the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Wrocław University of Science and Technology, which are responsible for the scientific instruments, as well as N7 Space, which will provide the software.

The project is financed through Poland’s contribution to the Space Weather and Space Safety Programme. The satellite will become one of the components of ESA’s Distributed Space Weather Sensor System (D3S), which is being developed to support space weather monitoring.

The SAWA mission further strengthens Poland’s position in the European space sector and demonstrates the ability of Polish companies and scientific institutions to deliver advanced satellite projects for international space programmes. The mission is also aligned with the Company’s 2026–2029 strategy, which envisages the implementation of space missions that will expand the range of applications for the HyperSat platform into new and promising segments of the space market – in this case, Space Safety. Following the PIAST constellation, MikroGlob and CAMILA, as well as the EagleEye test satellite, SAWA will be the 13th satellite based on Creotech’s HyperSat system to be launched into space.