Both countries agreed that over the next five years they will exchange information on space resources and promote a constructive dialogue with UN member states to construct a regulatory framework on the use and exploration of space resources.

Luxembourg has a rapidly growing newspace sector since the economy ministry launched the Space Resources initiative in 2016 aimed at creating a legal, regulatory and business environment for commercial space activities. This came 30 years after the Luxembourg state was involved in the creation of satellite manufacturer SES, based in Betzdorf.

Poland, meanwhile, launched its first satellite in 2012 but has a long-standing tradition in which its institutions have participated in European Space Agency science projects and missions. It was also one of the first eastern European countries to conclude a cooperation agreement with the ESA in the peaceful use of outer space, in 1994. Warsaw is also the seat of SES’s activities in central and eastern Europe.

According to Space News, Polish space agency Polsa has also signed bilateral agreements with France, Italy, China, Mexico, Brazil and Ukraine.

“Building on these economic ties, this agreement will further endorse cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels in order to progress together with other nations on a future governance scheme and a global regulatory framework for space resources utilisation,” Luxembourg economy minister Etienne Schneider (LSAP) said in a press statement on 12 October.

The agreement was signed by Poland’s minister of entrepreneurship and technology, Jadwiga Emilewicz.

The memorandum of understanding comes two days after it was announced Luxembourg signed a similar agreement with the Czech Republic in a press release published on Wednesday. Luxembourg has previously signed bilateral space agreements with Portugal, Japan, China and the UAE.