Uznański, an engineer and researcher, will represent Poland in the mission, marking a major step for the country's growing presence in space exploration.
Scheduled for late spring next year, with no earlier launch date than April, the mission will be part of the AX-4 program.
The crew will also include astronauts from the United States, India and Hungary.
A Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Dragon crew capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the team to the ISS for a 14-day stay.
The name Ignis, Latin for fire, reflects Poland's ambitions in space exploration.
Speaking during an event at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw on Monday, Uznański emphasized the mission's significance for Poland's technological future.
"This is just the beginning," he said. "We are building our technological future. We already have a place in space, but our ambitions go far beyond that."
Sławosz Uznański: "We already have a place in space, but our ambitions go far beyond that." Photo: PAP/Albert Zawada
The mission, funded by Poland’s Ministry of Development and Technology in collaboration with the European Space Agency, will include 14 science and technology experiments proposed by Polish companies and research institutions.
The studies will span various scientific fields, showcasing Poland’s potential in contributing to global space research.
Prof. Grzegorz Wrochna, head of the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), highlighted the broader implications of the mission.
"Orbital laboratories and factories are not fiction — they are today's science and business," he said. "Poland cannot be left out of these major endeavors, and today we can confidently say that we are part of them."
The official mission patch, also unveiled at the event, features symbols of Poland’s heritage and ambitions.
It includes the constellation Scutum, discovered by 17th-century astronomer Johannes Hevelius, and a depiction of mountain peaks resembling the Orla Perć in the Tatra Mountains.
The design incorporates a white eagle, a national symbol, with a fiery tail representing Ignis, and a stylized ISS solar panel forming part of the mission's name.
Uznański has been involved in space material and subatomic particle research in France and Switzerland for over a decade.
Sławosz Uznański, an engineer and researcher, will represent Poland in a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year. The mission marks a major step for the country's growing presence in space exploration, according to officials. Photo: PAP/Albert Zawada
He is poised to become only the second Pole to travel to space, following Mirosław Hermaszewski's historic flight in 1978.
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Source: IAR, PAP