The competition for the name of the first Polish radar satellite constellation, announced by the ARGUS Geospatial designation and Satellite Services Agency, ended. Of the 217 submitted proposals of the competition committee, the most popular was the 1 submitted by Bartosz from Wrocław. The winner proposed the name POLSARIS, or Polish SAR Intelligence strategy – Polish SAR designation System.
The competition committee ruled that the name ‘POLSARIS’ best reflects the nature and ambition of the project, developed under the MicroSAR programme. – Emphasises the national dimension of the constellation, and at the same time straight refers to SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology, i.e. active radar reflection key to exploratory capacity. It is besides understood internationally, which is crucial in the context of allied cooperation, and sounds modern and universal," says Colonel Anna Żuchowska, Mr ARGUS's press spokesman.
POLSARIS, according to the committee, does not restrict the association to military applications only and strengthens the communicative of the possible of double-military and civilian usage of the system. “An additional advantage of the name is its tip “IS”, which can be read as a subtle mention to “Solaris” by Stanisław Lem, an iconic symbol of the Polish technological and space imagination. It gives a cultural name, but at the same time a modern context – adds Colonel Żuchowska. The officer besides emphasizes that POLSARIS can naturally be developed as the Polish SAR Intelligence strategy – the Polish SAR designation System, which emphasizes the operational nature of constellations: obtaining radar data and utilizing them in designation and analysis processes.
Award for creativity
In consequence to announced last December's name contest 217 applications were received. The competition committee selected the final 5 proposals and then the netizens were able to share their opinions and indicate the names which they thought best reflect the nature of the project. The competition was not a plebiscite. The competition committee took into account the opinions of netizens, but it chose the author of the best proposal – informs Lt.
The winner of the competition, Bartosz from Wrocław, will be able to visit the image designation Centre in Białobrzeg and the ARGUs Satellite Operations Centre in Warsaw. – The laureate is an academic teacher and was very pleased that the committee had chosen his proposal. He was besides pleased with the award and announced that with the full household he would come to see how modern satellite technologies utilized in Poland's defence strategy work in practice, says ARGUS spokesperson.
From “POLSARIS” they competed with the names: “WESAR” (Jolanta of Katowice developed its abbreviation: White Eagle SAR – Eagle White SAR), “Światowid” (Anna of Plewisk argued that the name referring to the Slavic deity seen as an omniprescient guardian, aptly reflects the tasks of the military constellation of satellites), “POLaris” (Patryk of Mieroszov referred to the Polar Star and the abbreviation POL symbolizing Poland) and “Patron-1” (Kevin of Zielona Góra justified his choice as a tool to find the direction of future times, and number 1 is simply a belief in further development).
Second satellite in orbit soon
Constellation is part of a wider process of building national satellite capabilities. It should be recalled that the first Polish radar satellite obtained under the MicroSAR programme, was launched into orbit on 28 November last year. – The deadline for the second satellite is not yet fixed. It could happen in late March. On the another hand, training of our operators will begin at the beginning of the spring, which will give us greater work for the effects of the "MicroSAR" programme, added Mr Żuchowska.
It is planned that in 2027 there will be 12 radar satellites in orbit, and with the next 1 Poland will have any of the largest capabilities of this kind in Europe. The improvement of constellations of Polish satellites is besides supported by developed optoelectronic programs “POLEOS” and “MicroGlob”.
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