For months, the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) had been sending crucial analyses to an active email address within the Ministry of National Defense (MON), including reports on the Falcon 9 rocket debris, according to independent portal Niezależna.pl. These emails were directed to the Department of Innovation, overseen by the Minister’s plenipotentiary for space affairs. Yet, despite the Ministry’s negligence, blame has now been shifted onto POLSA in what sources claim is a political move aimed at protecting Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
As previously reported by Niezależna.pl, POLSA delivered the Falcon 9 rocket report to two email addresses within the Ministry. Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz highlighted that one address was inactive but failed to mention that the second address was fully operational. Information regarding the potential threat reached the Department of Innovation promptly. This department is led by the minister’s plenipotentiary for space affairs, General Marcin Górka.
Political Game
“For months, we’ve been sending atmospheric entry analyses directly to the Ministry’s plenipotentiary. Everything was fine until negligence in the Ministry came to light—now suddenly, we’re accused of sending them incorrectly. It’s absurd,” sources within POLSA told the portal.
The agency is deeply frustrated, convinced its chief was sacrificed to protect Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz.
“It’s like the proverb: the blacksmith sinned, but the gypsy was hanged. The Ministry is at fault, yet we’re being punished. It’s dirty political gameplay,” said sources associated with POLSA.
Chaos within the Defense Ministry
Why was POLSA sending reports directly to MON’s plenipotentiary for space? According to Decision No. 66/MON from May 15, 2020, this official is explicitly responsible for supporting the Ministry’s leadership with specialized analyses regarding space activities.
“If the Department of Innovation wasn’t in chaos, the plenipotentiary or their deputy would have reviewed the report and advised the Minister accordingly. No one did that on February 19,” sources revealed.
The Department of Innovation, according to MON’s official description, is tasked with providing substantive support to the Minister’s plenipotentiary for space. Its head, General Marcin Górka, holds both roles simultaneously.
The Ministry’s Defense
The Defense Ministry confirmed to Niezależna.pl that POLSA’s email was indeed sent to an active inbox at the Department of Innovation. However, MON claimed that the mailbox “was not integrated into the notification system.”
“POLSA sent the Falcon 9 report to two email addresses within the Ministry of National Defense. Neither of these mailboxes was operational for notification purposes. Following the establishment of ARGUS (Geospatial Intelligence and Satellite Services Agency), POLSA was provided with a new operational notification email address in September 2024, which has been actively used by POLSA since then,” the Ministry explained.
Asked what the Department of Innovation did with POLSA’s email, MON effectively admitted doing nothing:
“POLSA sent information to a mailbox not integrated with the notification system. Since ARGUS’s creation, operational communication regarding space incidents should have occurred—and indeed occurred until February 13, 2025—via the designated and activated channel agreed upon with POLSA. On February 19, after a call from the Ministry, POLSA informed us they had sent the message to a non-operational mailbox,” stated the Ministry.
Another concerning aspect is that the Polish Space Agency also forwarded the report to the Government Security Center (RCB), which was then responsible for alerting other state agencies. This did not happen. Neither firefighters nor police were informed about the risk of rocket debris potentially falling on Polish territory.
“The police received no information regarding the Falcon 9 threat from POLSA, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, or the Government Security Center,” confirmed Poland’s National Police Headquarters to Niezależna.pl.