“As of 1 September 2023, Sławosz Uznański joined ESA as a project astronaut anticipating flying on a future space mission", the ESA wrote on its website.
The agency noted that Uznański “was selected in November 2022 as a member of the ESA astronaut reserve after a year-long selection process.
“The 2022 ESA recruitment campaign received more than 22 500 applications from across its Member States, the agency added.
Early November, Poland’s ministry for development and technology said that Uznański Polish astronaut would take part in an ESA mission to the International Space Station to "test Poland’s high tech" and conduct scientific experiments.
“It is now certain and guaranteed that the second Polish astronaut in history will take part in a space mission to orbit. It’s an amazing story that is developing before our eyes,” minister Waldemar Buda said at the time.
The first-ever Pole in space was the late Mirosław Hermaszewski, who took part in an eight-day Soviet space mission in 1978.
He added that the project would offer domestic firms “an opportunity to gain unique experience that will confirm the high quality of Polish products,” the PAP news agency reported.
The Ministry of Development and Technology noted that Poland this year increased its financial contribution to the ESA by EUR 295 million.
(mo)
Source: ESA, PAP
