Rozwój polskiego sektora kosmicznego : Bariery postępu

Sektor kosmiczny, ze względu na kapitałochłonność, wymaga poważnego zaangażowania finansowego. W polskich warunkach mogą je zapewnić przede wszystkim kontrakty przemysłowe z firmami zachodnimi, Europejską Agencją Kosmiczną lub granty ze środków publicznych. Ogólne ramy wsparcia państwa dla sektora określiła Polska Strategia Kosmiczna (Strategia, PSK), której przydatność jest jednak istotnie ograniczona z powodu braku Krajowego Programu Kosmicznego. Jego projekt, przygotowany przez Polską Agencję Kosmiczną (POLSA), nie został zatwierdzony ze względu na wady w części finansowej. Wykonywanie zadań wymienionych w Strategii nie było zaś skoordynowane, monitorowane ani skutecznie nadzorowane przez ministra właściwego do spraw gospodarki. W ten sposób osłabiono możliwość osiągnięcia efektu synergii działań i realnej oceny wpływu wydatków ponoszonych ze środków publicznych na wzrost efektywności sektora kosmicznego.

The development of the Polish space sector, due to its capital-intensive nature, depends, in the first place, on cooperation with foreign partners having strong capital, including, among other, the European Space Agency, and on the grants from public funds. The forms and scope of the state’s support for the space sector have been comprised, in a general manner, in the Polish Space Strategy, which should be elaborated on in the National Space Programme. The Strategy defines specific ministers, and state agen cies and companies that are supposed to implement its goals, and the minister com petent for the economy as the body responsible for the coordination and supervision of the Strategy realisation. Both the Minister of Science and Higher Education and the Minister of Digitalisation have met their duties, and their efforts have led to the launch of the European space programmes – Copernicus and Galileo – in Poland. The Industrial Development Agency has consistently implemented an original autono mous project for financial and capital support for space sector entities’ development, including promotional activities. Entrepreneurs have also used the support from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development which – although it has not been listed in the Strategy – conducted various promotional and training activities, including support for establishment of start-ups. By the end of 2019, the National Space Programme was not adopted, though, the elaboration of which lied with the Polish Space Agency. The draft document the Agency provided comprised an unreliable financial part, so it was rejected. The lack of the National Space Programme is considered, by entrepreneurs, as one of the most serious threats to the further development of the space sector in Poland. The minister responsible for the economy effectively sought for large sums of contracts for the Polish entrepreneurs with the European Space Agency. However, the minister has not established a system for coordinating the Strategy implementa tion, with goals and directions clearly assigned to all the involved institutions, which hampered the potential synergy of their activities. The minister has not elaborated criteria for evaluating the growth of the Polish space sector’s competitiveness, either, and consequently has not monitored the impact of the state budget’s expenditure on the sector’s effectiveness.