Pole in orbit in 2024? The Sejm will unlock the money for Uznański’s flight
Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański may go into space as early as 2024. During the last meeting, the deputies discussed the state’s space budget and the mission of Uznański – then additional details were provided.
Pole Sławosz Uznański has been selected as the next astronaut who can go into space in the mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The decision of the organization was made in 2022.
For a long time, however, money was a barrier – the domestic authorities have so far allocated little funds for space projects, including contributions to the ESA. This could thwart the plans of the Polish mission. Finally, however, we have a breakthrough.
Sławosz Uznański with a mission to the ISS – a Pole may go into space in 2024
According to the Kosmonauta.net website, without increasing the Polish budget for space missions, Uznański’s flight was still a big question mark.
The first announcements about increasing funds for i.a. contributions to the ESA fell only in July 2023. This gave us the first hopes, but we heard further details only at the meeting of the Sejm’s Public Finance Committee, which took place on August 4.
One of the discussed points was Uznański’s flight into space. During the meeting, we learned that the Polish government plans to allocate a total of PLN 292.5 million for a Pole’s flight into space – the money will come from the budget reserve.
There was also a request to provide additional details about the planned flight of the Polish astronaut. In response, it was said that Uznański’s mission could take place in a year’s time – in autumn 2024.
A Polish astronaut will fly into space – what do we know about Uznański’s possible mission
Officially, Sławosz Uznański’s flight into space is referred to as “the ESA technological and scientific mission with the participation of a Polish astronaut to the International Space Station”.
The task of our expert in orbit will be to conduct a number of scientific research and technological tests in a microgravity environment, which is to support the Polish economy. Further tasks will meet educational goals.
The most probable seems to be the departure of Uznański with the Axiom-4 (AX-4) mission. This will be the fourth mission to the ISS, commercially performed by Axiom Space. They usually last several days and allow wider access to the International Space Station for astronauts from very different countries.
The Axiom-1 mission took place in April 2022, and the launch of Axiom-2 did not take place until May 2023. Axiom-3 will potentially fly in 2023, but the date may be moved to January 2024. Axiom-4 launches in autumn next therefore seems quite probable.
