The President of the Polish Space Agency, Grzegorz Wrochna, has been dismissed following a botched response to the uncontrolled re-entry of a Falcon 9 second stage that scattered debris across multiple locations in Poland.
On 19 February, between 04:46 and 04:48 CET, a Falcon 9 second stage underwent an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry over Poland. The stage partially broke apart during re-entry, with at least four fragments surviving and landing in various locations across the country. According to POLSA, one of these fragments landed on the premises of an electrical equipment wholesaler.
In a 20 February statement regarding the uncontrolled re-entry, the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) stated that its Space Security Department “constantly monitors and analyzes threats in outer space originating from artificial objects, including rockets.” It went on to explain that all “relevant services and institutions in the country” were informed about any potential threats. The statement specifically referenced reports being generated and sent to the Ministry of Development and Technology, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Government Security Center.
However, a 20 February update from the Ministry of Development and Technology disputed POLSA’s claim that it had adequately warned the government about the uncontrolled re-entry. According to the statement, due to “irregularities that occurred in the process of reporting by the Polish Space Agency,” the Minister of Development and Technology, Krzysztof Paszyk, had “urgently summoned” the President of POLSA to provide an explanation.
“The information provided to the public by POLSA did not reflect the assessment of the situation resulting from the reports sent by the Agency and could have misled the public,” explained the Ministry’s statement.
In a 28 February POLSA update, the agency confirmed that the information regarding the uncontrolled re-entry of the Falcon 9 second stage had been sent to the wrong email addresses at the Ministry of National Defence.
Further compounding the crisis, the Polish Space Agency was hacked on 2 March, forcing it to “immediately disconnect from the Internet.”
“A cybersecurity incident has occurred at POLSA. The relevant authorities and institutions have been informed,” POLSA explained in response to European Spaceflight questioning. “An analysis of the situation is currently underway. To secure the data after the breach, POLSA’s network was immediately disconnected from the Internet. We will keep you updated.”
The POLSA systems were officially restored on 5 March “in cooperation with the services and institutions responsible for cybersecurity.”
On 11 March, the Minister of Development and Technology announced that POLSA President Grzegorz Wrochna had been officially dismissed. The statement did not include any information about his replacement.
