Author: Scanway
Publication date:
A lunar mission project involving Scanway, a Polish leader in space observation technology, has become one of three projects selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the A/B1 phase, the next stage of implementation under the Small Lunar Missions program. The Mani project aims to launch a lunar orbiter that, from an altitude of approximately 50 km above the Moon’s surface, map its surface with the highest spatial resolution to date, using an optical instrument designed and supplied by Scanway. If fully implemented, the total project budget will amount to approximately 50 million EUR, of which the Company estimates it could recognize total revenue of approximately 8.6 million EUR over the next four years. Funding will come from the ESA, including a contribution from Poland’s membership fee.
- The Mani project was selected by ESA in 2024 to proceed to Phase 0/A from among 62 submissions, and has now been selected to proceed to Phase A/B1 from among 7 projects
- The lead participants in the project are: the University of Copenhagen, Space Inventor, and Scanway, which is collaborating with the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ING PAN)
- The Mani project is of great importance for future crewed and uncrewed missions to the Moon, including the planning of the location of a future base as part of the Artemis program, which aims to establish the infrastructure necessary for a sustained human presence on the Moon’s surface
– Thanks to Scanway and ING PAN, Poland can play a key role in lunar exploration as part of the European Space Agency’s Small Lunar Missions initiative. Following the success of the preliminary Phase 0/A of the Mani project, which was completed in November of this year, the project team—of which we are a part—was selected by ESA to carry out Phase A/B1, the next stage of the lunar mission. If the project is fully implemented, the budget will amount to approximately 50 million EUR, of which we estimate Scanway’s share to be approximately 8.6 million EUR over a four-year period, which could further significantly strengthen the Company’s backlog — comments Jędrzej Kowalewski, President of the Management Board of Scanway S.A.
The Mani Project Is Key to Future Exploration Missions
Mani is a lunar orbiter mission capable of mapping the Moon’s surface in three dimensions with the highest spatial resolution to date—up to 20 cm per pixel—and measuring the properties of regolith at the micrometer scale. Improving the precision of topographic maps of the Moon will allow for better preparation of exploration missions, and verifying the photometric potential of this solution may support future missions to more distant regions of space.
According to data from Novaspace (Prospect for Space Exploration, 2024, 5th Edition), the number of space exploration missions is expected to nearly triple over the next decade, with lunar missions accounting for a significant 38% share (approximately 328 missions). Plans by major countries, including the U.S. and China, to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon are driving global investment in crewed, observational, and robotic missions that will build critical orbital and transportation infrastructure.
– The Moon is now becoming a global priority for the space sector, whose potential we accurately identified well in advance—next year, we will launch a lunar mission with Intuitive Machines from the U.S., and deep space represents a key focus of Scanway’s strategy for 2026–2028. The Mani lunar orbiter mission aligns perfectly with these objectives, and by enabling surface mapping at the highest spatial resolution to date, the data we collect can be used in global initiatives such as the Artemis program and support upcoming crewed and uncrewed missions to the Moon, significantly advancing Europe’s exploration capabilities – says Mikołaj Podgórski, COO of Scanway S.A.
The Groundbreaking Potential of the Mani Project
The spatial resolution of the data provided by Mani—which is several times higher—and, moreover, is available in the form of three-dimensional digital elevation models, will allow us to view the most interesting parts of the Moon from a completely new perspective. This will enable detailed planning of operations prior to the landing of robotic missions and, more importantly, crewed missions, making them safer. For example, this will make it possible to spot large rocks and cliffs in advance and precisely map the edges of volcanic caves. At the same time, this same data will be of groundbreaking scientific significance.
– What’s exciting is that the new data provided by Mani will finally allow us to answer several pressing questions in modern “lunar science.” For example, thanks to the extremely high resolution of the data, it will finally be possible to characterize small impact craters, the formation of which we observed in real time in the form of “lunar flashes.” This, in turn, will allow us to accurately determine the properties of the regolith and thus prepare for the extraction and processing of rocks as well as the construction of future bases on the Moon. Targeted observations in other locations will also allow us to answer the question of whether we can still expect volcanic eruptions on our natural satellite. I can’t wait! – concludes Dr. Anna Łosiak of the Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences.
Visualization of the Mani mission: https://video.ku.dk/video/119042394/mani-mission
About ING PAN:
The Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences is a research institute specializing in the study of the age and origin of rocks and minerals, the reconstruction of the evolution of orogens, reconstructing the geological environment on our planet and beyond, with particular emphasis on methods from isotope geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology, sedimentology, tectonics, stratigraphy, hydrogeology, paleontology, and remote sensing. The aim of the institute’s research is to better understand the geosystem and apply this knowledge to meet the needs of modern society. The ING PAN is headquartered in Warsaw, and the entire institute consists of research teams and equipment concentrated in three research centers: in Kraków, Warsaw, and Wrocław.
About Scanway:
Scanway has been actively supporting the development of the space economy for years, and the company’s products have been included on board the two most important Polish and European space missions of 2024. Scanway supplied the largest telescope in the history of the Polish space industry to the EagleEye satellite, as well as a camera system for the maiden flight of Europe’s newest launch vehicle, Ariane 6. The company is carrying out constellation projects with global clients, including Nara Space from South Korea (worth 2.7 million EUR), Marble Imaging from Germany (worth 3.2 million EUR), and a client from Asia (worth 9.0 million EUR). All projects have the potential for further expansion in the future.
In October 2023, the Company made its debut on the NewConnect market. It has fully achieved the goals announced in its initial public offering and is currently preparing to move to the Main Market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. For more information: https://scanway.pl/
Corporate Communications Office of Scanway S.A.
Media Contact:
Katarzyna Żądło
+48 661 601 402
k.zadlo@scanway.pl
Contact for investors and analysts
Mardoniusz Maćkowiak
+48 605 959 539
mardoniusz.mackowiak@ccgroup.pl
Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Anna Łosiak
+48 660 535 657
anna.losiak@twarda.pan.pl