The Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation has made history with the launch of its ILR-33 Amber 2K rocket from the Andøya Space Centre in Norway.
The ILR-33 Amber 2k rocket was launched on its first space shot on 3 July from the Norwegian launch facility. Powered by a hybrid core stage and two solid-fuel boosters, the rocket reached an altitude of 101 kilometers, which is above the generally accepted boundary separating Earth’s atmosphere from outer space, known as the Kármán Line.
“The crossing of the space barrier by the ILR-33 AMBER 2K rocket developed at the Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation is a historic moment,” said Dr. Michał Wierciński, Vice President of the Polish Space Agency. “Never in our history has a Polish rocket reached such a level. This is a historic day for the Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation, but also a historic moment for the entire Polish rocket community.”
Development of the ILR-33 Amber rocket was kicked off by the Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation in 2014. A total of three missions were launched aboard this earlier variant of the rocket between 2017 and 2019, with it reaching a maximum altitude of 23 kilometres on a final flight. The development of an upgraded variant with larger, more powerful strap-on boosters then followed.
An initial low-altitude test flight of the 4.6-metre ILR-33 Amber 2K rocket was conducted In October 2022 from the Air Force Training Centre in Ustka, Poland. Late last month, the Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation announced that it would be attempting to reach space with the rocket for the first time in July, launching from the Andøya Space Centre. The European launch facility was opened in 1962 and has hosted the launch of over 1,000 suborbital rockets.
With the rocket successfully reaching space for the first time, operational flights can now commence. According to a Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation press release, the rocket has already secured a customer with Polish company Thorium Space expected to conduct research missions aboard ILR-33 Amber 2K flights between 2025 and 2027.
The success of the inaugural ILR-33 Amber 2K space shot could also be the first step toward Poland’s development of larger rockets.
“The planned tests of the rocket in space conditions are an important element in building Polish engineering competencies and developing Polish space rocket technologies,” director of the Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation, Dr. Paweł Stężycki explained before Wednesday’s historic flight. “Especially since the ILR-33 Amber 2K is also a starting point for the development of advanced technologies for large space rockets, which are currently only available in a few countries in Europe.”