The Polish PIAST satellite project has entered its next stage of development. Creotech Instruments has handed over management and control of the three satellites in the PIAST constellation – PIAST-M, PIAST-S1 and PIAST-S2 – to the Military University of Technology. This marks the start of the system’s operation in ‘nominal mode’, i.e. the intended operational model for the mission.
The Satellite Operations Centre Laboratory at the Military University of Technology will be responsible for day-to-day operations. Its tasks will include maintaining communication with the satellites, exchanging telemetry data, sending commands, receiving imagery, and planning and carrying out experiments conducted in orbit. Support will also be provided by an external ground segment service provider.
The PIAST project is the first undertaking in which the HyperSat satellite platform, developed by Creotech, has been used to build an entire constellation of satellites. In January, the company announced the completion of the commissioning process for all three units and confirmed that the platforms were fully operational in orbit.
The satellites were launched into orbit at the end of November 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission is being carried out by a consortium led by the Military University of Technology, in collaboration with, amongst others, Creotech Instruments, the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Scanway and the Łukasiewicz Research Network’s Institute of Aviation. The project is funded by the National Centre for Research and Development as part of the Szafir programme, carried out on behalf of the Ministry of National Defence.
Recent weeks have also seen the publication of new images captured by the PIAST satellites. The images, taken over locations including Warsaw, Madrid and Chernobyl, were intended to confirm the system’s operational stability and readiness to conduct regular Earth observations.
For Creotech, the handover of control of the mission marks an important business milestone. The company has not only supplied the satellites but has also verified in practice the capabilities of the HyperSat platform, which is set to be used in future national and European space projects. As such, PIAST is not only a research and military project but also a demonstration of the capabilities developed by the Polish space sector.
