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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.
The first ever Polish mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched today from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule. It reached orbit after around nine minutes and is expected to reach the station within around 24 hours.
Leading the mission is astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, who has become just the second Pole to travel to space and the first in almost 50 years. During his 14-day stay on the ISS, he will conduct various experiments relating to technology, biology, medicine and psychology.
“Dear Poles, today we are taking a giant step towards Poland’s technological future,” said Uznański-Wiśniewski after reaching orbit. “Let this mission be the beginning of an era in which our courage and perseverance will shape a modern Poland for us and for future generations.”
Kosmos dla wszystkich.
Space for everyone.
🚀🇵🇱#Ax4 #IGNIS@Axiom_Space @SpaceX @esa @MRiTGOVPL @POLSA_GOV_PL pic.twitter.com/vxAwYuAOac— Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (@astro_slawosz) June 25, 2025
“Space has always united people. Today, I am taking a piece of each of you, your strength, your hope, your trust,” continued the Polish astronaut. “I am not alone in space. I represent all of us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your trust. Space for everyone.”
The endeavour is being co-financed by the Polish government and supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), which chose Uznański-Wiśniewski out of over 22,500 candidates and began his training last year.
The Polish mission – called Ignis, meaning “fire” in Latin – is part of the broader Axiom 4 project. It was initially scheduled for blast-off on 29 May but has faced multiple delays due to unfavourable weather conditions and technical issues, including a liquid oxygen leak in the rocket and a pressure anomaly on ISS.
Uznański-Wiśniewski is joined on board by Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, mission commander Peggy Whitson from the US and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
During his 14 days on ISS, Uznański-Wiśniewski will lead 13 experiments proposed by Polish companies and institutions and developed together with the ESA in the following areas:
- stress reduction through EEG neurofeedback brain waves stimulation (Academy of Physical Education and Sport in Gdańsk)
- human gut microbiota in space (Military University of Technology WAT)
- how weightlessness causes muscle and tendon weakening (Smarter Diagnostics)
- mental health (University of Silesia)
- controlling computers in space only through brain activity (Cortivision)
- wireless noise measurement methods (Svantek)
- immune cells in space (Military University of Technology WAT)
- AI in space (KP Labs)
- radiation level measurements (SigmaLabs)
- nanomaterial and its potential in wearable tech (AGH University of Science and Technology)
- use of volcanic algae in space (Extremo Technologies)
- effect of storing drugs in polymer carriers on their shelf life (Centre for Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences)
- survival of protein-enriched yeast in space (University of Szczecin)
Earlier this year, Uznański-Wiśniewski also revealed that he would take various traditional Polish foods with him on his trip to space.
Together with a Polish company, the astronaut helped develop freeze-dried pierogi as well as tomato soup and leczo stew (a Polish take on Hungarian lecsó) served with buckwheat. Some of the products have been made available for purchase in Poland’s biggest convenience store chain, Żabka.
Astronaut @astro_slawosz will bring pierogi – Poland’s famous stuffed dumplings – to space with him when he joins an upcoming mission to the @Space_Station.
He has worked with a Polish family firm to freeze dry the pierogi so they can be taken to the ISS https://t.co/kc62N3y3cZ
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 3, 2025
The Polish astronaut’s wife, Aleksandra Uznańska-Wiśniewska, who is a member of parliament for Civic Coalition (KO), Poland’s main ruling group, initially flew to Florida to witness her husband’s mission launch on 10 June (one of the previously scheduled dates).
However, she later had to return to Poland in order to take part in the vote of confidence called by KO Prime Minister Donald Tusk after opposition-backed candidate Karol Nawrocki won the 2 June presidential election.
After the mission was postponed again, Uznańska-Wiśniewska announced she would “race against time” to see her husband and, eventually, made it to Florida in time to see the launch.
The only previous Pole to travel into space was the late Mirosław Hermaszewski, who was part of a two-man crew aboard the Soviet spaceship Soyuz 30 that flew into orbit on 27 June 1978 and docked at the Salyut 6 orbital space station.
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.
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Agata Pyka is an Assistant Editor at Notes from Poland. She specialises in Central and Eastern European affairs, cybersecurity, and investigative reporting. She holds a master’s degree in political communication from the University of Amsterdam, and her work has appeared in Euractiv, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), and The European Correspondent, among others.
