Poland ends agreement with Russian-based Intersputnik space communication network

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has signed into law two bills that formally end Poland’s participation in agreements related to the Russian-based International Space Communications Organisation, commonly known as Intersputnik.

“Termination of the agreement…is in line with recommendations regarding refraining from cooperation with representatives of Russia,” wrote the president’s chancellery, announcing the decision on Monday.

However, it noted that in practice Poland already withdrew from cooperation with Intersputnik after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Both bills were passed by parliament earlier this month with unanimous support from all parties.

The first authorised the president to renounce the agreement establishing Intersputnik, an international satellite communications service. The second enables him to terminate a separate, 1976 agreement on the legal capacity, privileges and immunities of Intersputnik.

The organisation was established in Moscow on 15 November 1971 as a counterweight to the Western-led International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (Intelsat, now ITSO).

Apart from Poland, it has 24 member states, many of which are former members of the Soviet bloc but which also include countries such as India, Afghanistan and Yemen.

After the fall of communism, Poland joined ITSO in 1993 as well as the European Satellite Communications Organisation (Eutelsat IGO) two years earlier.

“Poland has not utilised the resources offered by Intersputnik for many years and, given the current geopolitical situation, has no plans to do so,” said the president’s office. “Ending this agreement is fully justified in light of the actual lack of cooperation and use by Poland of Intersputnik’s resources.”

The president’s office added that the telecommunications company Orange Polska, which formally had the status of a participant in Intersputnik but has not longer participated in the work of the organisation for years, also decided to withdraw.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland has been one of Kyiv’s most vocal allies, providing extensive military, humanitarian and diplomatic support. It has also pushed strongly for tougher international sanctions on Russia.

In recent years, Poland has placed growing emphasis on developing its space sector.

In 2023, Warsaw increased its contributions to the European Space Agency (ESA) by €295 million for the years 2023-2025, allowing Polish companies to participate in various programmes for the development of technologies, products and services in the field of satellite communications, navigation and Earth observation.

Later that year the country signed an agreement with the European agency to launch its first constellation of satellites in 2027. Next year, the first ever Polish mission to the International Space Station will see Sławosz Uznański become only the second Pole to travel to space.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: NASA Johnson / flickr.com (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.