The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) had been tracking the trajectory of debris from the Falcon 9 rocket booster and relayed the information to relevant ministries and services, according to POLSA spokesperson Agnieszka Gapys in a statement to Niezależna.pl. However, Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz claims he was never informed of the potential threat by his subordinates.
Advance Warning from POLSA
As reported by RMF FM, Polish ministries, including the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, and the Ministry of Development and Technology, were informed by POLSA as early as Tuesday at noon that an uncontrolled atmospheric entry of a Falcon 9 rocket fragment was expected over Poland. The radio station questioned how government officials handled this warning.
Kosiniak-Kamysz Left in the Dark
On Tuesday, POLSA issued an alert stating that between 3:00 and 6:00 AM, a segment of the Falcon 9 rocket booster was expected to enter the atmosphere over Poland in an uncontrolled manner. Media reports suggest that debris, which did not burn up in the atmosphere, may have fallen in the Greater Poland region (Wielkopolska), according to RMF FM.
Despite this, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who appeared on RMF FM in the morning, stated he had not been informed of the potential hazard.
“I am usually woken up in the early morning hours if something concerning happens in Ukraine, such as a massive attack. This time, no one woke me up, so it was not considered a security threat to the state, nor was it related to the situation in Ukraine,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz in his RMF FM interview.
POLSA: Information Was Relayed
Niezależna.pl reached out to POLSA spokesperson Agnieszka Gapys for clarification.
“Verification is ongoing. The Polish Space Agency was on-site and is in contact with the police. Photos were taken and must now be sent to SpaceX. POLSA continuously monitors space activities, including the trajectories of objects in orbit. If an object poses a re-entry risk over Poland, we send a notification to the relevant ministries and services. It is impossible to predict the exact impact location, as we do not know precisely how the object will behave upon atmospheric entry. Typically, such debris burns up,” she explained.
When asked specifically about the debris found in Komorniki, Gapys stated:
“I cannot confirm or deny whether the object found in Komorniki is part of the Falcon 9 rocket we tracked. We monitored the trajectory of a Falcon 9 rocket segment and informed the appropriate authorities. However, confirming whether the debris found in Komorniki is from this particular rocket requires further verification.”