Two Polish rocket successes in 48 hours in Ustka. Domestic technologies reach new heights

Poland has recorded one of the most important milestones in its modern rocket development. Within just 48 hours, two independent Polish launch systems completed fully successful suborbital missions at the Central Air Force Range in Ustka, underscoring the rapid maturity of domestic rocket technologies.

Kamil Kusier executive editor 24.11.2025, 14:52 Reading time: 2 min

Three stage suborbital rocket launches from dunes near the sea shore surrounded by forest — fot. SpaceForest

In brief

A three-stage suborbital rocket built by a consortium of Wojskowy Instytut Techniczny Uzbrojenia, Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 1 in Łódź and the company Gamrat was launched on 24 November from the Central Air Force Training Ground in Ustka, reaching an altitude of about 65 kilometres. Deputy Minister of National Defence Cezary Tomczyk said the rocket achieved all mission objectives, including separation of the three stages and flight along the planned trajectory. Two days earlier, on 22 November, the PERUN rocket of the Gdynia based company SpaceForest flew from the same training ground.

Tri-stage rocket developed by WITU–WZL1–Gamrat achieves full mission success

On 24 November, a tri-stage suborbital rocket developed by a consortium of the Military Institute of Armament Technology (WITU), Military Aviation Works No. 1 (WZL1) in Łódź, and Gamrat completed a fully nominal flight profile.

The vehicle demonstrated:

accurate three-stage separation,
guided flight to a designated point in space,
adherence to the planned trajectory,
stable ascent to approximately 65 km.

According to deputy minister of defence Cezary Tomczyk, the mission validated several key technologies developed in Poland, including guidance, navigation and telemetry systems, as well as solid-propellant propulsion. The launch marks a significant step toward establishing a national suborbital launch capability for scientific and defence-related payloads.

Perun suborbital rocket completes another successful flight two days earlier

Just two days earlier, on 22 November, the Gdynia-based company SpaceForest conducted another successful flight of its Perun suborbital launch vehicle. Powered by a hybrid rocket engine, Perun once again confirmed the reliability of its propulsion system, avionics and stabilization.

The mission represents:

a major step forward for Polish hybrid propulsion,
continued maturation of Perun as a competitive European suborbital research platform,
further validation of Poland’s ability to deliver microgravity research services.

Although the two rockets come from separate programmes — Perun being a commercial system, and the WITU–WZL1–Gamrat vehicle serving defence development — both successes highlight the accelerating pace of Poland’s rocket sector.

Why the dual success matters

Two fully successful launches within 48 hours signal:

a technical breakthrough in Poland’s rocket engineering,
growing national competence in suborbital flight systems,
progress in domestic propulsion technologies (solid and hybrid),
rising European relevance of Poland’s aerospace sector,
strengthened technological sovereignty in defence and research.

Together, these missions position Poland as an emerging, credible player in the European rocket landscape — and signal that Polish-built launch systems are reaching higher, faster and with steadily increasing reliability.

Source: Gazeta Morska · Compiled by: Kamil Kusier