Creotech Capacity Plan; Europe Still Needs US Rockets

In brief

Poland’s Creotech Instruments plans to raise satellite production capacity by up to tenfold by 2029, its CEO told Reuters.
For European defence buyers and constellation programmes, the catch is launch: Brona says Europe will remain reliant on US rockets for years, even if it can build thousands of satellites.
What’s still unknown: which EU constellation tenders Creotech wins, and how fast any European launcher programmes close the gap Brona puts at “probably… a decade.”

Creotech does not build rockets. That matters for anyone counting on a European alternative to Starlink or on sovereign military satellites: more factory output does not put spacecraft into orbit if launch capacity stays elsewhere.

Reuters spoke to CEO Grzegorz Brona in Sopot on Friday, 19 October 2026 — two days after Ukraine said SpaceX had curbed use of Starshield, the military-grade Starlink variant (see TSN’s related coverage).

What is Creotech planning to build?

Brona said the company plans to open a factory in 2029 able to make 40 satellites a year of mixed types, or up to 100 of one model, compared with about 10 at its current plant — a rise “by up to tenfold by 2029.”

He added that Creotech would start opening subsidiaries in France and Germany “in the coming weeks” and was aiming to build 500-kg satellites by 2032.

Milestone (Brona to Reuters)	Figure
Current plant output	about 10 satellites a year
2029 factory — mixed types	40 a year
2029 factory — one model	up to 100 a year
Capacity increase by 2029	up to tenfold
Heavier class target	500-kg satellites by 2032
Near-term footprint	France and Germany subsidiaries “in the coming weeks”

Revenue for next year is secured, and the company will “probably sign several more contracts within six months,” Brona said. Separately, he said programmes for several large EU satellite constellations were already under way and that Creotech aimed to bid in their tenders.

Why does launch still decide who wins?

Asked whether European industry could build an alternative to Starlink, Brona said the continent could produce thousands of satellites “and still have no one to launch them.”

Europe carried out 8 of the world’s 324 orbital launches last year, against 193 by the US. Starlink alone accounted for more than 60% of active satellites, according to European Space Agency data as reported by Reuters.

Creotech has kept US technology out of its satellites to avoid US arms-export rules, under which Washington can block sales of a satellite containing even a small American part. Yet it still relies on US rockets: SpaceX carried all four satellites Creotech built for Poland’s MikroGlob military programme into orbit.

What did the CEO say about politics and timelines?

“Launch vehicles are now becoming a means of political pressure on the European Union in the hands of (US President) Donald Trump’s administration,” Brona told Reuters.

“Of course, Europe is waking up,” he said, pointing to new European rocket programmes including a German launcher, but added that building enough rockets “would probably take a decade.”

That is his assessment in an interview, not a formal EU or ESA timeline.

Who is affected?

European governments and militaries ordering satellites that still need a US ride to orbit.
Constellation programmes that can fund spacecraft but not assured launch cadence.
Investors watching Eutelsat and other Starlink challengers — Reuters notes Eutelsat shares jumped after the Ukraine/Starshield news week; that equity move is market colour in the same wire, not Creotech guidance.

Our read

Creotech’s capacity plan is a European industrial answer to the satellite shortage. The harder constraint Brona names is launch sovereignty: a decade-scale rocket gap means even a tenfold Polish factory still sits downstream of US launch politics. Until European launchers match demand, “build more satellites” and “field a sovereign constellation” remain different projects.

What’s still unknown?

Formal Creotech disclosure beyond the Reuters interview
Which EU constellation tenders it enters, and with what share
Whether European launcher programmes compress Brona’s “probably… a decade” estimate

How we sourced this

Primary reporting is the Reuters wire datelined Sopot, 19 October 2026, carried in full on MarketScreener. Launch and Starlink-share figures are ESA data as stated by Reuters; TSN did not fetch a separate ESA statistical release. No Creotech press release was used. Related TSN posts on Starshield/Starlink and SpaceX are linked below for context only.