Mars Rover Test Field opens in Józefosław

The test field is the result of extensive work by the WUT Interdisciplinary Mars Exploration Team, which brings together researchers from the Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography and the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology. Covering an area of 500 square metres, the track is constructed from various fractions of aggregate, primarily Devonian limestone.

“The site features faithful analogues of Martian landforms, including craters and dunes. It is used to test the Polish LeoRover platforms and drones, while our researchers are also developing systems for autonomous robotic swarms,” says Prof. Robert Olszewski from the Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography, leader of the WUT Mars Exploration Team. “Our test field is an open research infrastructure available to all faculties and student scientific societies at the Warsaw University of Technology. We warmly invite the entire academic community to make use of this advanced facility in research, educational, and student projects. It provides an ideal environment for testing rovers and drones, both manually operated vehicles and autonomous robotic swarms.”

Mars Rover Test Field in Józefosław is operational now

The first test field in Józefosław, covering approximately 120 square metres, was established in 2025. This year, it has been expanded almost fivefold. According to Prof. Olszewski, the opening of the new facility marks a milestone in the development of Poland's research infrastructure for planetary exploration. The expansion of the test field was made possible through the support of numerous partners. Scientific advice on recreating Martian terrain and landforms was provided by researchers from the Jagiellonian University, particularly Mateusz Sobucki, PhD. The team also received scientific support from NASA JPL and Ames. The company Nordkalk donated 150 tonnes of aggregate, while the Polish company FictionLab supplied the rover platforms.

Mars Rover Test Field in Józefosław is operational now

“A cornerstone of the team's activities is our long-standing and highly productive collaboration with the Jagiellonian University and NASA's prestigious research centres - Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames Research Center. One outcome of this cooperation is a unique sub-decimetre digital terrain model of Mars' Jezero Crater, created at a record spatial resolution of 3.5 centimetres using data collected by the Ingenuity Mars helicopter,” explains Prof. Robert Olszewski.

Mars Rover Test Field in Józefosław is operational now

The WUT Interdisciplinary Mars Exploration Team comprises academic staff, doctoral researchers, and students from the Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography - Prof. Robert Olszewski, Agnieszka Wendland, PhD, and Paweł Czernic, MSc, as well as Piotr Pałka, PhD, and a group of students from the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology. Decorative elements of the site, including an obelisk inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, were designed by a team from the Faculty of Architecture led by Karolina Dąbrowska-Żółtak, PhD.