Modrzewski spoke to PAP at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her annual State of the Union address. She invited Modrzewski and his ICEYE co-founder, Finnish entrepreneur Pekka Laurila, to attend the address as examples of young European entrepreneurs who have built a successful technology company.

'They first met through the Erasmus programme about 15 years ago', von der Leyen said of the ICEYE founders. 'Together they founded a technology start-up, developed their idea, received EU Horizon funding, proved that their technology works, and grew with the help of private capital. Today the company is one of the world’s leading space-technology firms, with offices in Finland, Poland, Spain and Greece', von der Leyen continued.

Speaking to PAP, Modrzewski said building a European space security system was a natural area for cooperation among EU member states.

'Today, Europe lacks sufficient space capabilities to ensure security (...). We are working on that', he said. In his view, space can provide security not only in orbit but also on Earth, and European countries should develop shared capabilities in defence, intelligence, communications and Earth observation.

'No single satellite hovers over just one point or country; instead, it flies over all European nations and the rest of the globe. It is, therefore, a natural system that we can very easily share', Modrzewski said. He cited the European satellite navigation system, Galileo, as an example of such cooperation.

'Building 27 separate Galileo systems would make no sense financially or in terms of resource utilization', he said.

Modrzewski said strengthening European technological autonomy was important regardless of the current geopolitical situation.

'We are the masters of our own fate; we do not wait for others to do what is essential for us', he said. He added that purchasing necessary equipment from European companies should be part of efforts to strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty.

'Space is a leading domain in this regard, given the needs involved', he said.

The ICEYE CEO also spoke positively about the Scale-Up Europe initiative, a public-private EU fund, and efforts to build the Capital Markets Union. He said pooling capital available across EU member states into a single, more efficient fund was essential if Europe wanted to build large companies.

Founded by Polish and Finnish entrepreneurs, ICEYE specialises in the production and use of Earth observation satellites. The company operates in several EU countries, including Poland, Finland, Greece, Spain and Germany.

According to Modrzewski, ICEYE is now a global provider of Earth observation satellites, with its solutions used by institutions and governments in countries including Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

The company provides satellite data to entities including the NATO Situation Centre and collaborates with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.

From Strasbourg, Łukasz Osiński (PAP)

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