SENER Aerospace

SENER Aerospace is the aerospace engineering division of SENER Group, a private Spanish engineering and technology corporation headquartered in Getxo (Basque Country), founded in 1956 — operating as one of Europe's leading independent suppliers of high-precision spacecraft mechanisms, antenna pointing mechanisms (APMs), deployable and retractable structures, and complete spacecraft structure assemblies for ESA, NASA, and commercial satellite programs.

SENER's flagship product family is antenna pointing mechanisms: precision two-axis or three-axis gimbal assemblies that point satellite communication antennas, reflectors, or science instrument apertures toward specific ground targets, stars, or planets with arc-minute to arc-second pointing accuracy. These mechanisms must operate reliably across hundreds of millions of actuations in the thermal and radiation environment of GEO orbit, requiring ultra-high-reliability bearings, brushless motor drives, position sensors (resolvers or encoders), and structural designs that minimize thermal distortion. SENER's APMs are used on Inmarsat, SES, and Eutelsat communications satellites as well as ESA science missions.

For planetary exploration, SENER designed and built the High Gain Antenna Pointing Mechanism for ESA's Mars Express (launched 2003) and BepiColombo missions, and contributed the Solar Array Drive Assembly (SADA) for multiple ESA and commercial platforms. The company also built the Locomotion Subsystem mechanisms for ESA's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover — the drive train and wheel assemblies for the six-wheeled suspension system designed to traverse rough Martian terrain. For navigation, SENER provided deployment mechanisms for the Galileo satellite navigation constellation (Europe's GPS equivalent) solar array and antenna systems.

Deployable structures from SENER include solar array hold-down and release mechanisms (HDRMs), boom deployments, and antenna reflector unfolding mechanisms — all of which must function reliably after surviving launch vibration and then successfully actuate exactly once in the correct sequence for mission success. The company's mechanism heritage across 100+ space missions provides qualification data that reduces risk for future programs.

SENER also performs complete satellite structural design and manufacturing for medium-class spacecraft buses. The company's engineering integration capability — from mechanism development through full structural assembly — positions it as a tier-1 supplier to prime contractors Airbus Defence & Space, Thales Alenia Space, and Indra, while also bidding as prime contractor on smaller ESA missions.