"Areas of bilateral cooperation between Poland and the US related to space exploration may include cooperation of scientific institutions and universities conducting space technology research in both countries, development of joint projects for space missions and the use of American experience in the area of space legislation and state support for private space activities by the Polish side" - reads the release.

According to the Polish Space Agency, the President of the Polish Space Agency Dr. Grzegorz Brona and administrator of the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jim Bridenstine talked about the development of Polish-American cooperation in the field of space activities in Bremen.

"With satisfaction I presented the contribution of Polish entities to the American space missions: InSight, Curiosity, IMAP. This is a considerable achievement, and our goal is to further increase the involvement of Polish enterprises and research institutes in US space projects" - said Brona.

The head of the Polish Space Agency added that the talks also concerned "possible participation of Poland in the planned orbital base Lunar", the construction of which is due to start soon.

The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway space station, orbiting the Silver Globe, is expected to be built by 2023. According to NASA, the station will open the way for astronauts to land on the surface of the Moon no later than in the late 2020s.

The Gateway will handle manned landings and delivery of collected materials to Earth. The station orbiting the Moon will also be a place for researching the impact of stay in outer space on people and testing new technologies needed, for example, for a flight to Mars.

Manned flight to the Red Planet will be preceded by a series of robotic missions. The InSight spacecraft is scheduled to land on Mars in November.

Plans include launching another rover in 2020. It will explore Mars in terms of the possibility of producing fuel on its surface and acquiring other resources that people would need.

Sending a robot to Mars that would return to Earth with samples is also planned. This would mean the first ever launch of a rocket from Mars.

The Polish Space Agency is a governmental executive body subordinate to the Prime Minister. It was established pursuant to the Law of 26 September 2014. The Agency participates in the implementation of Poland`s strategic goals, supporting the use of satellite systems and the development of space technologies. (PAP)

author: Magdalena Jarco

maja/ kap/

tr. RL