Poland’s first satellite, PW-Sat, a CubeSat project designed by Polish students, will launch into space aboard Europe’s Vega rocket on February 9, 2012. This is a slight delay from the earlier launch date of January 30.

Students at the Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska, or PK) began the project in 2005 and delivered the satellite to the Netherlands in October 2011. The European Space Agency chose to launch PW-Sat alongside several other CubeSats aboard the continent’s new small-size rocket, Vega. Although Polish scientists have been longstanding contributors to space technology, a full satellite has never been built in Poland before.

In addition to familiarizing technology students with a real satellite project, PW-Sat is designed to speed up the decay of the satellite’s orbit. To do this, the satellite will launch a unique tail-like structure covered with solar panels that will enable it to gather data as the orbit deteriorates. A couple of other design ideas were considered, including a sail-like design, before students chose the tail structure.

PW-Sat will be one of nine CubeSats launched aboard the new Vega rocket. The launch will occur in Kourou, French Guiana. Seven of the nine satellites will be student-designed, and the other two contributed by the Italian space agency. Vega has tested out on all four stages of its construction. The final step before launch is to integrate the upper composite, which includes fairing and payload.

One unique aspect of Vega is its flexibility of design. The rocket can carry between 300 and 2500 kilograms of payload, depending on the market opportunity. Also, Vega is capable of multiple configurations that allow it to carry anything from a single satellite to a main satellite and six micro-satellites. The Vega made its journey to French Guiana last October, where it has continued to undergo testing.

The purpose of Vega’s maiden voyage is to qualify the operations of the vehicle, including ground infrastructure and operations from the launch campaign to the payload separation and disposal of the module, according to the European Space Agency. Vega was named after the second brightest star in the hemisphere and engineered to make space access quicker, easier and cheaper.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.