3.country in space
Czechoslovakia
Vladimír Remek / 1978
First Czech on a privately funded space mission
The Czech crew members of ECM1 may also become only the second and third Czechs in space.
The mission
It started with a simple idea: to see space
ECM1 is a planned pan-European commercial space mission. The mission is funded from private sources. After long personal negotiations, the mission has been assigned a flight window at the turn of Q2 and Q3 2027, and the reservation agreement with the flight operator is signed.
The project is led by René Šír, who describes himself first of all as an ordinary guy from the Krkonoše mountains. He started out as a glass cutter, worked his way through the camera and the edit room to film and television production, and has spent his life telling other people’s stories.
“This time I decided to step into one of them myself.”René Šír, mission initiator
Flight profile
Up to 90 kilometres above Earth
ECM1 is a suborbital flight. The crew will climb to about 90 kilometres, above the 50-mile line (80 km) traditionally regarded in the US as the edge of space. From there you can see the curvature of the Earth and the black sky above the thin layer of the atmosphere.
For a few minutes the crew will experience weightlessness before returning to Earth. The title of the film, 50 Miles Above the Sea, refers to exactly this line.
90kilometres, planned flight altitude
80kilometres, the 50-mile line
Planned crew
An international crew. One shared journey.
The crew is still being assembled. Members from Czechia and Poland will be joined by participants from Slovakia and Germany.
René ŠírCzech mission leader
Bartłomiej ZakrzewskiPolish mission member
Sławomir LewczukPolish mission member
Czech mission memberComing soon
Slovak mission memberComing soon
German mission memberComing soon
Czechia · producer · lifeREPORT.TV
René Šír
René Šír comes from the Krkonoše mountains. He spent five years cutting Czech crystal, then worked his way through thousands of hours behind the camera and in the edit room to film and television production. In 2007 he founded the production company lifeREPORT.TV.
As a skipper he has sailed the open Atlantic and the North Sea and taken on the winter Baltic. His film The Cold Embrace, shot in Antarctica and the English Channel, won several festival awards.
ECM1 is his own project. He has spent his life telling other people’s stories – this time he decided to step into one himself.
Poland · entrepreneur · investor · space sector
Bartłomiej J. Zakrzewski
Bartłomiej J. Zakrzewski is a Polish entrepreneur and investor with a long-standing interest in the commercialisation of the space sector. He is associated with Copernic Space, a platform focused on financing, trading and opening up access to assets tied to real space missions, infrastructure and data.
He brings to ECM1 experience from business, investment and the emerging commercial space economy. In the crew he is to represent Poland and help build the mission as a long-term European project, not just as an individual flight participant.
Poland · entrepreneur · logistics · international transport
Sławomir Lewczuk
Sławomir Lewczuk is a Polish entrepreneur and owner of SL Express, a company active in international road transport and logistics. The company has been on the market since 2003 and focuses, among other things, on international freight across Europe.
He brings to ECM1 experience from an environment where precision, responsibility, safety and the ability to react quickly to change are decisive. In the crew he represents Poland and adds a practical operational and organisational perspective to the team.
Names and personal stories of the other members will be announced with the final crew line-up.
From 1978 to ECM1
Following the Interkosmos generation
In 1978 Czechoslovakia became the third country in the world to send a citizen into space. Poland and the former East Germany followed the same year, and the first Slovak flew in 1999. Almost fifty years later, we pick up this Central European story.
4.country in space
Poland
Mirosław Hermaszewski / 1978
First Pole on a privately funded space mission
The Polish crew members follow the flights of 1978 and 2025.
5.country in space
East Germany
Sigmund Jähn / 1978
The German participant follows the first German spaceflight of 1978.
1999first Slovak in space
Slovakia
Ivan Bella / 1999
First Slovak on a privately funded space mission
The Slovak participant may become only the second Slovak in space.
Our link to Interkosmos is one of story, not of institutions. Any “firsts” depend on the order in which flights actually take place.
Crew training
The road from training to flight
Building the crew
Personal motivation, initial assessment, first meetings and individual training goals for every participant.
Physical and mental preparation
Regular training and joint camps. Specialist preparation is tailored to each member.
Joint expeditions
A multi-day winter sail on the Baltic and jumps from a balloon. Cold, fatigue and big waves will show how the crew works under pressure and as a team.
Flight readiness
Mandatory training with the flight operator, preparation at the spaceport and the final countdown.
Science programme
A mission with a scientific purpose
In Czechia, Poland and Slovakia we are in talks to include several scientific experiments suited to a suborbital flight profile. We also want to give a chance to projects that did not make it to the ISS, adapting them to suborbital conditions.
The final selection of experiments and their approval for flight are still to come. We will present the individual experiments and the crew’s involvement in the research as we go.
“If we are preparing a mission like this, we want to use its potential to the full.”René Šír
Feature documentary
50 Miles Above the Sea
The film has been shooting from day one. It does not follow a finished success but the real development of the project: the search for people, doubts, rejections, negotiations and preparation for the flight.
This time René Šír becomes one of the main characters, so he steps out of his usual role as producer. Director Vojtěch Petřina previously worked with him on The Cold Embrace, a film shot partly in Antarctica that won several international awards.
- Director
- Vojtěch Petřina
- Executive producer
- Jan Dundr
“We are filming a journey where something can still go wrong. That is exactly why it is worth recording.”René Šír
1feature film, complemented by behind-the-scenes content and science stories
32episodes of a YouTube documentary series following the real mission milestones
16months of ongoing content for Czechia, Poland, Germany and Slovakia
Timeline
Planned mission timeline
- 2026 · now
Project launch
- Reservation signed
- Crew selection
- Partner talks
- 2026–2027
Training
- Individual training
- Joint expeditions
- Ongoing content
- Q2–Q3 2027
Flight
- Final preparation
- Date confirmed
- Media coverage of the flight
- After return
The story continues
- Feature film
- Premieres
- Crew stories
Let’s talk about working together
Scope, rights, investment and any exclusivity are set together with each partner. Get in touch.
Jan DundrExecutive producer
j.dundr@lifereport.tv
+420 776 688 846
lifeREPORT.TV
life@lifereport.tv
+420 773 559 593